STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

THE  CASE  AGAINST  GERMANY 
IN  THE  PACIFIC 


BY 

C.  BRUNSDON   FLETCHER 

AUTHOR  OF 
'THK   NEW   PACIFIC"  AND   "THE  PROBLEM   OF  THK  PACIFIC 


NEW   YORK 
CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1920 


Printed  in  Great  Britain. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

THIS  volume  concludes  the  argument  against  Germany 
begun  in  "  The  New  Pacific  "  and  continued  through  "  The 
Problem  of  the  Pacific."  It  is  also  an  effort  to  place 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson  before  the  world  as  an  important 
witness  in  the  case ;  and  substantially  it  is  a  Stevenson 
book.  Yet  to  get  Stevenson  into  the  witness  box  the 
history  of  Germany's  thirty  years  of  intrigue  and  ter- 
giversation, before  he  reached  Samoa,  has  to  be  told. 
This  has  brought  other  important  witnesses  forward. 
Broadly,  therefore,  the  book  is  an  account  of  Stevenson's 
Germany — the  Germany  he  discovered  in  the  Pacific, 
ruthless  and  grasping.  Stevenson  did  not  imagine,  even 
so,  that  the  brutal  Power  he  had  found  out  could  prove 
"  insolent  "  in  the  true  Greek  sense  of  the  word,  and  run 
headlong  to  ruin.  Insolence,  when  applied  to  himself  and 
his  writings,  was  a  word  which  moved  his  most  vehement 
protest.  Sir  Sidney  Colvin  says  that  the  particular  protest 
under  this  head,  in  one  of  the  Vailima  letters,  was  not 
uttered  by  the  true  Stevenson.  It  was  not  like  him  ;  and 
the  shadow  of  death  upon  him  was  the  only  explanation. 
But  in  Stevenson's  denial  there  was  a  real  appreciation  of 
the  meaning  of  insolence.  He  said  he  had  frankly  supposed 
the  word  to  be  tabooed  between  gentlemen.  He  did  not 
use  it  to  a  gentleman  and  he  would  not  write  it  of  a  gentle- 
man. But  during  his  five  years  in  Samoa  he  learned  the 
larger  lesson.  As  Germany  loomed  over  the  group  he 


45S30 


viii  AUTHOR'S   PREFACE 

realised  how  "  insolent  "  was  her  attitude  ;  and  he  there- 
fore thrust  his  pen  into  the  fire  that  was  so  near  to  him, 
and  out  of  its  trenchant  steel  he  forged  both  sword  and 
spear.  Yet  his  main  object  was  to  make  peace  between 
Germany  and  Samoa.  Hence  because  he  wrote,  moved  by 
German  insolence,  the  present  book  has  been  made  possible. 

The  documents  in  the  case  are,  unfortunately,  not 
plentiful,  neither  have  they  been  easily  collated  ;  but  they 
are  conclusive  as  far  as  they  go.  For  in  this  connection 
Stevenson  builded  better  than  he  knew.  Yet  even  then  a 
verdict  upon  the  accumulated  evidence  can  be  reached  only 
as  its  circumstantial  side  is  allowed  due  weight ;  inference 
has  often  to  take  the  place  of  reliance  upon  direct  testi- 
mony. Nevertheless,  the  verdict  of  dispassionate  readers, 
I  honestly  believe,  will  be  unanimous.  They  will  say  that 
the  Germany  of  the  African  atrocities  and  horrors  is  the 
Germany  of  the  Pacific.  Therefore  German  possessions  v 
1  in  the  Pacific^ are jiot  to^e  returned,  but  retained. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  several  sympathetic  friends  and 
helpers  in  the  writing  of  these  books.  Especially  was  the 
late  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  William  MacGregor,  P.C.,  G.C.M.G.,  my 
strong  tower.  He  never  ceased  to  encourage  me,  and  I 
shall  not  easily  forget  his  words  of  comfort  and  com- 
mendation. To  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Papua,  the 
Hon.  J.  H.  P.  Murray,  C.M.G.,  my  acknowledgments  are 
due  for  information  ungrudgingly  given  when  "  The  New 
Pacific  "  was  being  written  and  for  facts  made  available 
in  his  reports,  which  are  so  full  of  evidence  of  work  well 
done.  The  Hon.  J.  Hedstrom,  of  the  Fijian  Legislative 
Council,  has  also  placed  me  in  his  debt  by  supplying  me 
with  evidence  and  information.  Mr.  Irvin  S.  Cobb  has 
given  me  from  New  York  greetings  and  assistance  for  which 


AUTHOR'S   PREFACE  ix 

I  am  very  grateful ;  and  Mr.  F.  Graham  Lloyd,  of  London, 
has  placed  me  under  obligation  by  his  untiring  assistance 
in  the  difficulties  due  to  distance  from  my  publisher.  The 
Rev.  R.  H.  Colwell  has  also  been  my  willing  helper 
throughout  in  reading  the  proofs  and  in  preparing  or 
correcting  the  indices. 

My  friends  in  Australia  have  always  been  full  of  en- 
couragement and  appreciation.  Dr.  F.  W.  Ward,  of  Bris- 
bane, has  stood  by  me  with  words  of  good  cheer ;  and  by  his 
criticism  and  weighty  advice  has  assisted  me  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  argument.  Mr.  A*  Atlee  Hunt,  C.M.G., 
Secretary  of  the  Department  for  External  Affairs,  has 
from  time  to  time  supplied  me  with  matter  of  great  value. 
The  Rev.  J.  G.  Wheen,  Dr.  Bromilow,  and  Rev.  Benjamin 
Danks,  among  others,  have  been  ready  to  give  from  their 
wealth  of  knowledge  of  the  Pacific  ;  and  Mr.  Percy  Allen, 
who  is  an  expert  in  Pacific  history  and  affairs,  has  responded 
to  each  call  upon  his  good  nature.  My  cousin,  Mr.  J.  J. 
Fletcher,  M.A.,  B.Sc.,  Secretary  of  the  Linnean  Society  of 
New  South  Wales,  has  helped  with  friendly  criticism  as  my 
researches  have  progressed ;  and  the  resources  of  his 
library  have  been  mine  for  the  asking.  Finally,  my  special 
acknowledgment  is  due  to  the  Mitchell  Library  in  Sydney. 
Under  its  Assistant  Public  Librarian,  Mr.  Hugh  Wright,  the 
library  is  becoming  indispensable  to  the  student  of  the 
Pacific,  its  affairs,  administration,  and  possibilities. 

C.   BRUNSDON  FLETCHER. 

SYDNEY. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    I 
AFRICA  AND  THE  PACIFIC pp.  1 — 9 

The  Germany  of  1894  and  1914.  Stevenson's  knowledge.  Pre- 
sident Wilson's  Fourteen  Points.  Africa's  case  proved  up 
to  the  hilt.  Mr.  Gorges's  xeport.  M.Ren6  Puaux  in  support, 
Mr.  Watt  at  Bendigo.  Mr.  Massey  in  New  York.  Mr. 
Walter  Long's  announcement.  Germany  equally  ruthless 
in  the  Pacific.  Never  a  trustworthy  neighbour. 

CHAPTER    II 

THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  THE  PACIFIC  ....  pp.  10 — 16 
A  double  difficulty  to  be  overcome.  Veils  of  silence  and  indif- 
ference. Germany's  attitude.  Romance  ending  in  sordid 
political  compromises.  Rupert  Brooke's  experience. 
Mariner's  "  Tongan  Islands "  and  Thackeray.  Charles 
Dickens  and  the  Pacific.  Germany  entered  the  Pacific  in 
1854.  No  reports  of  German  doings.  Bishop  Selwyn's. 
work.  Stevenson's  story. 

CHAPTER   III 

No  GERMAN  EXPLORATIONS  .  .  .  .  .  pp.  17 — 25 
Germany  before  1870.  Hamburg  and  the  Godeffroys.  French 
and  British  explorers.  Carteret  and  New  Britain.  First 
annexation  of  a  Pacific  island.  Bougainville  at  New  Britain. 
His  discovery  of  Carteret's  camp.  Beautemps-Beaupre'  and 
D'Entrecasteaux.  The  French  Revolution.  Beautemps- 
Beaupre  alive  in  1854. 

CHAPTER   IV 

A  MACHIAVELLIAN  POLICY pp.  26 — 36 

Interesting  documents.  New  Zealand  Blue  Book  of  1874. 
Stonehewer  Cooper's  "  Coral  Lands."  Miss  Gordon  Cum- 
ming's  writings.  Sterndale  a  Godeffroy  employee.  Louis 
Becke  another  Godeffroy  employee.  Trood  a  third  em- 
ployee. Trood's  "  Island  Reminiscences."  Thackeray 
again.  Silence  about  Germany's  "  black  labour  "  traffic. 
Stevenson's  light  upon  it.  Sterndale's  testimonial. 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   V 

AN  OUTLINE pp.  37 — 51 

Sir  John  Thurston's  report.  Godeffroy's  advent  and  progress. 
Weber  as  dictator  and  German  Consul.  A  network  of  trad- 
ing stations.  The  manager  and  the  missionary.  A  great 
programme  laid  down.  America  and  Pago  Pago.  Steven- 
eon's  evidence  begins.  Political  history  of  Samoa.  Samoan 
wars.  Germany  always  interfering.  Samoan  instability 
served  the  German  purpose. 

CHAPTER   VI 

GERMAN  ARROGANCE pp.  52 — 62 

Germany  took  what  she  wanted.  Story  of  the  Samoan  club. 
Nabo  til's  vineyard  again.  Dr.  Brown's  intervention. 
Stevenson's  policy  for  Samoa.  Others  than  Germans  in- 
volved. Some  reason  in  German  claims.  But  Germany 
must  never  be  criticised  !  No  talking  about  the  German 
slave  trade !  Mr.  Walter  Coote's  book.  Stevenson's 
biographers  and  Stevenson's  interference.  Germany  still 
claimed  freedom  from  criticism. 

CHAPTER   VII 

GERMAN  SLAVE  LABOUR pp.  63 — 74 

The  Sterndale  report.  Sir  Julius  Vogel's  scheme.  "  The  fright- 
ful system  of  slavery  "  in  the  Pacific.  Can  Germany  ever 
be  trusted  f  No  reservoirs  of  labour.  Sterndale's  panegyric 
of  Godeflroy  and  Son.  The  firm's  recruiting  agents. 
Stevenson's  remarks  upon  the  German  slave  trade.  Escaped 
negritos  in  Samoa.  Stevenson  heavily  handicapped.  Sir 
John  Thurston  frowned  upon  him.  Germany's  aim  to  get 
everything. 

CHAPTER   VIII 

A  SETTLED  POLICY pp.  75 — 87 

Sir  John  Thurston  in  the  Pacific.  His  report  on  Samoa  in  the 
British  Blue  Book  (1885—1889).  He  touches  the  German 
slave  trade  with  a  pair  of  tongs.  German  claims  in  Samoa. 
The  Agreement  of  1886.  Treated  as  a  "scrap  of  paper." 
Trade  in  the  Pacific  a  preparation  for  war.  Close  parallel 
with  the  Cameroons  in  Germany's  treatment  of  the  natives. 
Mr.  Poultney  Bigelow's  evidence.  Atrocities  in  the  Caroline 
Islands.  Africa  and  the  Pacific  must  be  taken  together. 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER   IX 
TRADE  AND  STRATEGY     ......    pp.  88 — 100 

Germany  as  pedlar  and  planter.  Deutschland  iiber  Alles.  Ger- 
man thoroughness  in  duplicity.  Bolivian  dollars  and  double 
profits.  Stevenson  again.  German  thoughts  of  trade  dif- 
ferent from  British.  Ruthless  cut-throat  competition.  Sir 
John  Thurston  and  the  German  trade  in  arms  and  liquor. 
Rise  of  German  companies.  The  Marshall  Islands  and 
Australian  threats.  German  shipping  subsidies.  Australia 
was  to  be  a  new  German  base.  Sympathy  of  Marshall 
Island  chiefs  with  Australia. 

CHAPTER    X 

THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  SAMOA pp.  101 — 110 

George  Brown  and  Stevenson.  Their  plan  of  settling  Samoan 
difficulties.  Some  Power  in  control  imperative.  '  Germany 
too  well  entrenched.  No  hope  from  Gladstone.  Sir  George  ^ 
Grey  turned  to  America.  Germany  in  possession.  Native 
lands  secured  to  Samoans.  Samoa  in  the  limelight.  Dr. 
Solf  given  a  free  hand  to  meet  the  difficulty.  Samoans 
given  representation  on  Council.  Samoa  never  developed 
by  Germany.  A  comfortable  British  anticipation  of  ex- 
change. Stevenson  a  trustworthy  witness. 

CHAPTER   XI 

THE  Two  IDEALS pp.  111—125 

German  and  British  ideals  in  better  perspective.  Report  of  the 
Australian  Inter-State  Commission.  Mr.  C.  H.  Hughes's 
evidence  against  Germany.  Analogy  to  the  Sterndale 
report.  Captain  Strasburg's  favourable  testimony.  Com- 
mission's report  a  purely  business  document.  Chinese  in 
Samoa.  German  New  Guinea  Company.  Are  there  no 
spiritual  or  moral  forces  behind  business  operations  ? 
Germany's  study  of  Malaysia.  Australia  and  the  Dutch 
East  Indies. 

CHAPTER   XII 

THE  MISSIONARY  FACTOR pp.  126 — 136 

Germany  never  an  explorer.  Equally  indebted  to  Britain  on  the 
missionary  side.  Yet  bad  for  German  trade.  Instructions 
against  missionaries.  Sir  George  Grey  and  Bishop  Selwyn 
as  Imperialists.  Caroline  Island  chief  moved  to  approve. 
New  Zealand  and  the  king  movement.  Maori  Christianity. 
Maori  loyalty.  "  This  is  my  flag."  George  Brown  watching 
it  all.  Maoris  fighting  for  the  Empire. 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XIII 

GOVERNMENT  BY  PRECEPT pp.  137 — 145 

Sir  George  Grey  and  Tawhiao.  They  sign  the  pledge.  Sir  Arthur 
Gordon  and  Maafu.  Sir  William  MacGregor's  way.  Dr. 
Brown  in  New  Britain  and  the  Solomons.  Gladstone's 
policy.  Cost  of  the  wars  in  New  Zealand.  Catching  Tartars. 
Dr.  Brown's  criticism  of  Government  fears.  The  case  of 
Fiji.  Germany  benefited  by  Gladstone's  hesitancies. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CLEARING  A  WAY  FOR  GERMANY  ....  pp.  146 — 157 
Samoa  a  whirlpool  of  mischief.  Colonel  de  Coetlogon.  Stevenson 
and  Moors  wait  upon  him.  The  interview  full  of  surprise. 
Sir  John  Thurston  and  Stevenson.  Threat  of  deportation. 
Samoans  called  liars  and  thieves.  George  Brown's  love  for 
the  Samoans.  His  way  with  the  natives.  An  incident  in 
New  Britain.  A  treacherous  chief.  The  missionary's 
triumph.  Germany  again  benefited  by  British  efforts. 


CHAPTER   XV 

ASSETS  IN  ADMINISTRATION pp.  158 — 171 

The  MacGregor  reports  from  New  Guinea.  Australia's  crisis  in 
1 893.  A  MacGregor  wanted.  Twenty  years  after  in  Queens- 
land. The  strong  man  in  the  Pacific.  Found  only  to  be 
transferred  elsewhere.  Sir  John  Thurston.  A  critical 
moment  in  Samoan  history.  The  naval  man  in  action. 
Sir  William  MacGregor  and  the  Fijian  chiefs.  The  German 
spirit  again. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

STEVENSON'S  PLACE  AND  POWER  ....  pp.  172 — 182 
Tusitala,  the  writer  of  stories.  Why  give  him  the  limelight  ? 
Germany  roused  the  man  in  him.  His  love  for  and  under- 
standing of  the  Samoans.  A  missionary  after  all.  He  stood 
for  the  natives  against  the  aggressive  white  man.  The  two 
spirits  in  conflict.  Mataafa's  scorn.  The  German  pro- 
clamation. Germany's  bludgeon  in  play.  The  Road  of  the 
Loving  Heart.  Stevenson's  speech  to  the  Samoan  chiefs. 
A  lesson  for  the  Germans. 


CONTENTS  xv 

CHAPTER   XVII 

CONCLUSIONS pp.  183 — 205 

German  efficiency  and  British  mismanagement.  Sir  William 
MacGregor's  lecture.  The  argument  in  a  nutshell.  The 
same  Germany  in  Africa  and  the  Pacific.  Problems  for 
Australasia.  Native  populations  not  increasing.  American 
criticism.  Indian  labour  in  Fiji.  A  rejoinder  to  attacks 
upon  the  system.  Conditions  in  India.  Examples  from 
Java  and  the  Philippines.  German  trade  and  strategy. 
German  possessions  must  not  be  returned.  Mr.  Watt  s 
speech  on  the  German  menace. 


APPENDIX  A 
APPENDIX  B 

pp.  207—209 
pp   210     212 

APPENDIX  C 
APPENDIX  D 
INDEX  . 

pp.  213—218 
pp.  219—222 
.  •»».  223—230 

STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

(GERMANY  IN  THE  PACIFIC) 
CHAPTER  I 

AFRICA   AND   THE   PACIFIC 

The  Germany  of  1894  and  1914.  Stevenson's  know- 
ledge. President  Wilson's  Fourteen  Points.  Africa's  case 
proved  up  to  the  hilt.  Mr.  Gorges's  report.  M.  Ren6 
Puaux  in  support.  Mr.  Watt  at  Bendigo.  Mr.  Massey  in 
New  York.  Mr.  Walter  Long's  announcement.  Germany 
equally  ruthless  in  the  Pacific.  Never  a  trustworthy  neigh- 
bour. 

BETWEEN  1894,  the  year  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's 
death,  and  1914,  when  the  war  opened,  Germany  matured 
her  plans  for  world  conquest.  But  when  war  was  declared 
in  the  latter  year  she  was  the  same  Power  as  when  Stevenson 
watched  the  development  of  Bismarck's  policy  from 
Samoa  nearly  two  decades  before.  Between  "  the  drums 
and  tramp  lings  "  of  a  Germany  almost  victorious  through 
the  invasion  of  Belgium,  and  the  inglorious  retreat  of 
German  armies  upon  the  Rhine  after  the  armistice  of 
November,  1918,  there  has  been  revelation  upon  revela- 
tion ;  and  yet  it  is  still  the  same  Germany  upon  whom  the 
world  is  gazing.  Stevenson  saw  enough  before  he  died  to 
realise  the  dangers  of  a  German  peace,  though  he  strove 
to  make  an  understanding  possible  between  the  Samoans 
and  their  coming  masters.  But  to-day,  as  we  look  back, 
the  essential  thing  is  to  prove  that  the  Germany  of  more 

3.0.  B 


2  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

than  half  a  century  in  the  Pacific  cannot  be  dissociated 
from  the  Germany  of  Africa  and  Europe.  Stevenson's 
Germany  has  been  consistent  to  the  end,  and  the  story 
only  needs  to  be  told. 

When  dealing  with  the  history  of  German  activity  in 
the  Pacific,  or  stating  the  case  for  keeping  Germany  from 
this,  the  largest  ocean  on  the  earth's  surface,  it  is  necessary 
to  give  preliminary  consideration  to  Africa.  Stevenson 
was  gently  rallied  on  one  occasion  over  his  tendency  in 
his  monthly  epistle  to  write  about  local  Samoa  rather 
than  to  discuss  the  world  of  literature.  But  he  was  trying 
to  express  himself  in  terms  of  a  great  discovery  in  life  and 
affairs,  with  imagination  as  an  aid  to  expression  only,  not 
as  the  beginning  and  end  of  all  things.  The  Vailima 
letters,  as  edited,  are  a  reflex  of  the  thought  that  people 
cared  little  about  Samoa  except  as  it  contained  Stevenson  ; 
whereas  Stevenson  himself  had  decided  that  the  group 
was  the  supreme  object  in  a  struggle  between  right  and 
might,  and  that  the  writer  of  stories  was  as  nothing  in 
comparison.  So,  to  give  the  true  Germany  with  reference 
to  the  Pacific,  one  must  begin  with  the  world  in  the  actual 
present,  and  not  with  a  part  of  it  in  some  artificial  relation. 

Nothing  could  be  more  conclusive  than  the  case  against 
Germany  in  East  and  South- West  Africa.  It  has  been 
presented  by  several  writers  and  supported  by  many 
witnesses.  If  President  Wilson's  fifth  point,  in  the  fourteen 
points  offered  at  the  beginning  of  January,  1918,  as  a 
basis  for  the  discussion  of  peace,  governs  the  return  of 
German  possessions  in  Africa,  there  is  little  left  to  say ; 
but  since  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  brought  into  range  it  may 
be  repeated  here.  President  Wilson  insisted  that  one  of 
the  conditions  of  debate  at  the  Peace  Conference  must 


AFRICA  AND  THE  PACIFIC  3 

be  : — "  A  free,  open-minded,  and  absolutely  impartial 
adjustment  of  all  colonial  claims,  based  upon  a  strict 
observance  of  the  principle  that,  in  determining  all  such 
questions  of  sovereignty,  the  interests  of  the  populations 
concerned  must  have  equal  weight  with  the  equitable 
claims  of  the  Government  whose  title  is  to  be  determined."  * 
Mr.  Lloyd  George,  in  a  speech  made  in  the  previous 
December,  had  taken  practically  the  same  ground.  Not 
spoils  to  the  victors,  not  national  aggrandisement,  and  not 
the  mere  question  of  merited  punishment  for  the  abominable 
crimes  committed  by  Germany,  but  the  peace  of  the  world 
is  to  govern  everything.  Security  for  the  future  of  our 
civilisation  is  to  be  assured.  Small  nations  and  the  native 
races  in  Africa  and  the  Pacific  are  to  be  given  the  fullest 
protection  and  the  most  trustworthy  warrant  for  their 
development  along  the  lines  of  congenial  existence. 

Again  it  must  be  admitted  that  Africa's  case  has  been 
proved  up  to  the  hilt.  Mr.  E.  H.  M.  Gorges,  Administrator 
of  South- West  Africa,  has  presented  a  report  of  his  section 
of  the  Dark  Continent  which  leaves  little  to  be  said.  An 
indication  of  its  facts  and  conclusions  is  offered  here  because 
those  who  are  concerned  in  the  future  of  German  colonies 
in  the  Pacific  will  be  asked  whether  they  can  give  an  equally 
powerful  indictment  based  upon  similar  investigations, 
and  it  is  well  to  know  what  is  expected  of  us.  Briefly, 
Mr.  Gorges's  report  is  a  telling  reply  to  Dr.  Solf  s  recent 
claim  that  "  Germany's  pre-war  humane  treatment  of  the 
native  races  had  won  for  her  the  moral  right  to  be  called 
a  great  Colonial  Power."  Mr.  Gorges  says  of  Africa  : — 
"  Native  opinion  here  is  unanimously  against  any  idea  of 
ever  being  handed  back  to  the  tender  mercies  of  Germany, 

*  The  Times,  January  10th,  1918. 

B  2 


4  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

and  any  suggestion  of  the  possibility  of  an  act  of  that  kind 
on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  produces  the  utmost  consterna- 
tion." *  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  Germans  in  South 
Africa  broke  every  rule  which  civilised  humanity  has 
accepted  as  fair  and  reasonable  in  dealing  with  uncivilised 
races.  They  oppressed  the  unfortunate  natives  in  their 
power,  deceiving  them,  taking  their  lands,  breaking  agree- 
ments without  scruple,  and  finally,  after  robbery  and 
unimaginable  cruelties,  murdering  them  until  whole  tribes 
were  almost  extinguished.  Rebellions  were  the  natural 
result  of  treatment  which  meant  slavery  for  the  men  and 
concubinage  for  the  women  ;  and  in  the  end  the  Hereros 
were  decimated  until  80,000  became  15,000.  The 
Hottentots  in  the  same  way  fell  from  20,000  to  less  than 
half  that  number,  and  the  Berg  Damaras  from  20,000  to 
12,800.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  details  of  this  awful 
story  should  make  the  blood  run  cold  or  that  one  should 
leave  it  quite  convinced  that  nothing  remains  to  be  said  ? 
Germany  cannot  be  allowed  to  return  as  master  of  her  late 
possessions  in  South-West  Africa. 

The  story  of  East  and  West  Africa  is  no  less  gruesome. 
It  has  been  told  with  sufficient  amplitude  to  satisfy  the 
most  exacting  ;  but  those  who  wish  a  summary  of  it,  and 
German  comments  thereupon,  should  read  the  pamphlet 
by  M.  Rene  Puaux,  recently  published  and  entitled  "  The 
German  Colonies  :  What  is  to  become  of  them  ?  "  The 
writer  of  this  pamphlet,  after  making  many  telling  quota- 
tions and  presenting  a  series  of  facts,  says  : — "  Were  we 
to  restore  her  colonies  to  Germany  to-morrow  we  should 
be  guilty  of  a  crime  against  humanity,  for  we  should 
expose  the  natives  not  only  to  falling  again  under  the 
*  "  Blue  Book.  Union  of  South  Africa,"  Cd.  9146,  p.  11. 


AFRICA  AND  THE  PACIFIC  5 

hateful  yoke,  but  to  the  terrible  revenge  of  their  old  masters, 
whose  cause  they  deserted  to  welcome  their  liberators." 

M.  Rene  Puaux  rightly  urges  that  even  a  short  examina- 
tion of  the  story  of  the  German  colonies  will  compel  the  con- 
clusion that  their  restoration  to  Germany  is  neither  neces- 
sary nor  desirable,  and  he  argues  in  this  way  for  the  Pacific 
as  well  as  for  Africa.  But,  unfortunately,  in  this  outline  of 
African  atrocities  and  mal-administration,  the  history  of 
German  possessions  in  the  Pacific  is  not  offered.  In  the 
largest  area  on  the  earth's  surface  no  effort  is  made  to 
present  a  special  case  for  the  islands  or  groups  of  islands 
brought  under  German  control  from  1884  onward ;  a 
single  indictment  is  made  to  cover  all.  This  is  good  as 
argument,  but  it  does  not  go  far  enough.  President  Wilson, 
for  instance,  might  quite  reasonably  have  been  asked  at 
the  Peace  Conference  whether  he  was  satisfied  that  the 
story  of  Germany's  crimes  in  Africa  covered  all  the  ground. 
Would  he  have  been  fortified  against  his  critics  ?  Are 
there  not  other  facts  to  present  and  a  different  story  to  tell 
of  the  Pacific  ?  What  of  Samoa  ?  Does  not  Dr.  Solf  s 
claim  that  Germany's  pre-war  treatment  of  the  natives  has 
been  humane  find  substantiation  in  that  group,  and  if  so 
has  she  not  still  a  moral  right  to  be  regarded  as  a  great 
Colonial  Power  ?  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  Germany  to-day 
finds  apologists  in  the  Pacific  who  are  not  German  but 
British-born  ? 

No  doubt  an  effective  reply  may  be  offered  in  the  claims 
and  charges  of  responsible  Australasian  statesmen.  Mr. 
Hughes,  Prime  Minister  of  Australia,  hardly  needs  to  be 
quoted  in  this  connection,  so  constant  and  consistent  have 
been  his  denunciations  of  Germany  and  so  urgent  his  cam- 
paign against  her  both  in  Australia  and  Great  Britain.  But 


6  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

Mr.  Watt,  who  has  been  Acting  Prime  Minister  in  Mr. 
Hughes's  absence,  has  not  hesitated  to  say  that  Australia 
does  not  want  extra  territory,  but  that  she  does  want  safety 
for  the  future.  This  was  a  statement  made  during  a  speech 
at  Bendigo,  in  Victoria,  in  September,  1918,  and  Mr.  Watt 
continued  :  "  Now  that  war  has  taught  the  people  of  Aus- 
tralia how  great  a  menace  these  islands  (German  posses- 
sions in  the  Pacific)  would  be  if  they  passed  back  into 
German  hands,  Australia,  with  a  united  voice,  should  pray 
to  England  that  they  may  be  handed  over  to  a  friendly 
power."  *  This  might  easily  have  been  a  conclusion  based 
upon  the  revelations  of  German  devilry  in  South-West 
Africa,  and  indeed,  Mr.  Watt  spoke  at  Bendigo  at  the  very 
moment  that  Mr.  Gorges's  revelations  were  reaching 
Australia.  But  the  Pacific  has  its  own  story  of  German 
treachery  to  tell,  and  the  Acting  Prime  Minister  of 
Australia  had  no  need  to  fall  back  upon  Africa  for  ammuni- 
tion. There  is,  however,  a  strategic  as  well  as  a  humani- 
tarian side  to  the  argument,  and  this  must  be  kept  in 
mind. 

When  Mr.  Gorges's  startling  disclosures  were  being  made 
Mr.  Massey  and  Sir  Joseph  Ward  were  the  guests  of  honour 
in  New  York  at  a  luncheon  party  given  by  the  British  War 
Mission.  But  Mr.  Massey  simply  kept  step  with  Mr.  Watt 
— and  there  could  hardly  have  been  an  understanding  be- 
tween them.  Said  the  Premier  of  the  Dominion  of  New 
Zealand  :  "  We  are  not  in  the  war  for  territory.  But  one 
thing  we  know,  we  do  not  want  Germany  in  the  Pacific  any 
more.  We  will  not  tolerate  the  menace  of  the  establish- 
ment of  a  German  nation  in  the  South  Pacific."  f  New 

*  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  September  13th,  1918. 
t  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  September  14th,  1918. 


AFRICA  AND  THE  PACIFIC  7 

Zealand  has  been  so  long  concerned  about  Germany's  enter- 
prises in  the  Pacific  that,  on  the  facts,  in  the  history  of  the 
ocean,  as  Mr.  Massey  knows  them,  this  may  be  taken  as  a 
just  denunciation.     In  the  Pacific,  as  in  Africa,  there  is  a 
case  against  Germany,  but  it  would  be  quite  reasonable  to 
urge  that  what  has  been  revealed  on  the  side  of  the  continent 
cannot  find  a  substantial  denial  in  the  case  of  the  ocean. 
The  real  Germany  has  been  disclosed  by  the  war  illuminated 
by  the  African  reports   and   revelations.     Why  ask  for 
mountain  to  be  piled  on  mountain  in  this  way  ?     Has  not 
Mr.  Walter  Long,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  British  Colonial 
Office,  added  his  word  to  the  rest  ?     Speaking  at  a  dinner 
to  the  delegates  of  the  Australasian  Press  at  the  end  of 
September,  1918,  he  said  :  "  We  are  told  that  we  did  not 
enter  the  war  for  extension  of  territory.     This  is  absolutely 
true.     We  are  told  that  these  territories  must  be  returned 
to  Germany.     I  am  here  to-night  to  say  this : — That  if  these 
territories  are  returned  to  Germany  the  sacrifice  of  our 
heroes  will  have  been  made  in  vain.     And  I  say  the  spirits 
of  these  men  will  come  from  their  graves  to  rebuke  us,  if  after 
the  sword  has  done  its  splendid  work  the  pen  is  so  cowardly 
as  to  give  back  what  the  sword  has  won.     The  Germans 
regard  the  Pacific  Islands  as  bases  for  wireless  stations, 
aeroplanes,  and  submarines.     If  Germany  is  allowed  to 
return  to  the  position  she  occupied  before  the  war  the  peace 
of  the  world  will  be  threatened.     We  must  make  Germany 
understand    that    she    has    over-stepped    the    bounds."  * 
This  takes  strategic  ground,   but  the  conclusion  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies  is  as  definite  as  that  of 
the  representatives  of  Australasia  already  quoted  ;  and  if 
these  able  men  are  satisfied,  why  should  the  world  not 
*  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  September  28th,  1918. 


8  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

accept  their  verdict,  as  for  the  Pacific,  without  insisting 
upon  another  detailed  indictment  of  Germany  ? 

Briefly,   then,  there  is  a  case  against  Germany  from 
native  and  European  experience  in   the   Pacific,   and    in 
justice  to  everybody  concerned  it  must  be  added  to  the 
general  indictment.     President  Wilson  might  fairly  have 
demanded  that  nothing  should  be  omitted  from  the  sum  of 
Germany's   misdoings.     Moreover,    Germany   will   defend 
herself ;  and  she  can  undoubtedly  point  to  something  in 
the  Pacific  which  shows  her  capable  of  dealing  as  fairly 
with  the  natives  as  Great  Britain  or  the  United  States. 
Her  difficulty,  of  course,  will  become  greater  in  consequence, 
because  her  sins  elsewhere  will  be  seen  more  clearly  to  have 
been  committed  against  the  light,  not  through  ignorance. 
But,  though  her  activity  has  been  modified  by  the  condi- 
tions of  life  there,  Germany  has  been  as  ruthless  and  un- 
principled in  the  Pacific  as  in  Africa.     The  Polynesians 
and  Melanesians,  over  whom  she  flourished  her  whip  or 
against  whom  she  drew  her  sword,  were  sometimes  capable 
of  standing  up  to  Germany,  and  in  Samoa  the  Powers  were 
looking  on.     But  in  the  main  it  has  been  the  same  Germany. 
From  the  very  beginning  she  has  been  a  stone  of  stumbling 
for  the  other  white  people  in  the  Pacific,  and  a  rock  of 
offence  to  the  natives  wherever  she  has  gone.     Lord  Bryce 
has    summed   up    her    character    in    well- chosen    words : 
"  Neither  in  the  Pacific  nor  elsewhere  has  the  German  power 
been   found   a   pleasant   or   a  trustworthy   neighbour."  * 
This  was  the  judgment  of  one  who  has  studied  the  Pacific 
as  a  traveller,  not  as  an  armchair  philosopher,  and  whose 
eminence  as  historian  and  statesman  makes  the  verdict 
conclusive.     But,  though  the  strictest  accuracy  and  the 

*  "  The  New  Pacific."     Preface  by  Lord  Bryce. 


AFRICA  AND  THE   PACIFIC  9 

firmest  justice  have  marked  his  course  in  dealing  with 
Germany,  Lord  Bryce  has  always  been  on  the  side  of 
mercy.  Preceding  the  above  quotation  from  his  preface 
to  "  The  New  Pacific "  is  the  sentence :  "  Among  the 
Governors  who  have  served  Germany,  I  know  of  at  least 
one  upright  man  who  has  wished  to  rule  the  islands  with 
justice  and  fairness  all  round."  This  tribute  to  Dr.  Solf 
did  not  prevent  the  conclusion  that  Germany  has  been  a 
bad  neighbour  everywhere — a  conclusion  which  must  be 
the  theme  of  this  book. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  THE  PACIFIC 

A  double  difficulty  to  be  overcome.  Veils  of  silence  and 
indifference.  Germany's  attitude.  Romance  ending  in 
sordid  political  compromises.  Rupert  Brooke's  experience. 
Mariner's  "  Tongan  Islands "  and  Thackeray.  Charles 
Dickens  and  the  Pacific.  Germany  entered  the  Pacific  in 
1854.  No  reports  of  German  doings.  Bishop  Selwyn's  work. 
Stevenson's  story. 

IN  any  attempt  to  present  a  reasonable  case  against 
Germany  in  the  Pacific  a  double  difficulty  has  to  be  over- 
come. One  side  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  nature  and 
history  of  the  greatest  of  the  world's  oceans,  the  other  in 
Germany's  attitude  and  relation  to  it.  The  Pacific  is  a 
waste  of  water  covering  hall  the  earth's  surface,  and  almost 
from  the  beginning  of  her  appearance  there  Germany  has 
been  the  sly  trickster  trying  to  exploit  it  behind  vast  veils 
of  silence  and  indifference.  Those,  therefore,  who  expect 
a  story  of  outrage  and  terrorism  among  the  natives  of  the 
Pacific  similar  to  that  told  by  Mr.  Gorges  of  South-West 
Africa  will  be  disappointed.  There  are  details  of  abomina- 
tion, no  doubt ;  but  the  conditions  of  the  ocean's  history 
are  entirely  different  from  those  of  the  great  continent  so 
close  to  Europe.  Germany  has  ever  been  ruthless  and 
insolent  among  subject  or  inferior  races,  but  individual 
Germans  have  proved  capable  administrators,  just  gover- 
nors and  fine  colonists — the  latter  mostly  under  other  flags. 
In  the  Pacific  she  has  found  special  problems  in  the  supply 
of  native  labour  and  in  her  own  relations  with  the  British 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  THE  PACIFIC     11 

Dominions.  Before  the  war,  she  was,  no  doubt,  under 
constant  scrutiny  in  part  of  the  Pacific,  and  she  was 
obliged  again  and  again  to  retrace  her  steps  and  disguise  her 
policy.  But  she  was  always  resentful  of  criticism.  This 
will  be  brought  out  in  the  course  of  the  present  story.  It 
is  sufficient,  however,  to  warn  expectant  readers  that  the 
present  book  is  not  an  account  of  horrors  comparable  with 
what  Africa  has  given  them  since  1914,  nor  is  it  a  history 
or  drama  with  German  traders  and  officials  as  the  only 
villains.  Germany  has  attempted  great  and  evil  things ; 
but  her  temptations  also  have  been  mighty,  even  when 
not  directly  aggravated  by  the  folly  or  indifference  of 
other  Powers. 

The  peculiar  trouble  of  the  scribe  who  tries  to  present 
a  true  picture  of  Germany's  activity  in  the  Pacific  lies 
in  an  ocean  history  that  began  in  an  atmosphere  of  high 
romance,  continued  under  sordid  political  compromises, 
and  ended  in  friction  and  misunderstanding.  Rupert 
Brooke's  experience,  when  traversing  the  widest  reaches 
of  the  ocean,  is  typical  of  the  whole.  He  entered  it  with 
his  wonderfully  sensitive  mind  and  fine  genius  ready  for 
the  glamour  of  tropical  waters  and  dazzling  beaches,  in 
fact  quite  prepared  to  meet  the  Pacific  more  than  half  way. 
By  report  and  reading  he  knew  enough  of  it  to  understand 
something  of  its  charms,  and  he  expected  to  repeat 
Stevenson's  experiences,  under  a  thousand  thrills  from 
hovering  sky  and  heaving  sea.  Just  in  the  same  way 
the  European  world  began  when  the  first  Spaniard  made 
his  wild  guess  at  the  sight  of  its  waters,  or  when  Sir  Francis 
Drake  prayed  upon  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  for  a  chance 
to  sail  upon  it.  Explorations  followed,  until  the  exploits 
of  Dampier,  Carteret  and  Cook  eventually  filled  the  minds 


12  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

of  monarchs  and  men  of  science  with  fresh  hopes  and  strange 
imaginings.  The  new  world  of  America  had  a  wider 
reach  than  the  greatest  romancer  had  ever  outlined. 
French  expeditions,  under  the  prompting  of  a  fine  unselfish 
spirit  of  scientific  investigation,  added  their  wonderful 
results,  and  the  Pacific  seemed  to  have  become  an  open 
book  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  A  whole  hemisphere  was 
again  offered  for  possession  ;  and  at  last  what  the  Dutch 
and  the  Spaniards  had  indicated  was  now  declared  to  be 
ready  for  enterprise  and  exploitation.  But  just  as  Rupert 
Brooke  grew  disappointed  and  depressed  with  his 
experiences  in  Hawaii  and  Fiji,  so  the  interest  in  the 
Pacific  which  had  arisen  weakened  and  waned.  Australia 
was  considered  by  Britain  as  only  good  enough  for  a  penal 
settlement ;  and  France  soon  began  to  cast  out  her  shoe 
in  emulation  upon  the  lands  near  by.  Rupert  Brooke 
found  Honolulu  just  an  extension  of  American  city  life 
and  Suva  a  part  of  Europe  with  a  fragment  of  battered 
India  fastened  upon  it.  Had  he  returned  by  way  of 
Australia  and  Asia  his  disillusionment  would  have  been 
complete,  for  the  civilised  surroundings  of  the  one  and 
the  barbaric  splendours  of  the  other  would  have  made  the 
Pacific  seem  an  ocean  of  wasted  beginnings  and  endings. 
But  he  retraced  his  steps  and  recovered  some  of  his  lost 
dreams.  The  world  is  doing  likewise,  but  with  misgivings 
about  Germany  and  her  possessions  ;  and  it  is  because 
the  average  thoughtful  denizen  of  lands  upon  the  Atlantic 
has  not  brought  the  Pacific  into  focus  that  Germany  may 
yet  score  against  us. 

How  surely  the  distance  of  the  Pacific  from  Europe 
has  aided  Germany  in  her  designs  upon  that  ocean  may 
be  seen  in  many  ways.  When  about  1854  Hamburg 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  THE  PACIFIC     13 

merchants  began  their  invasion — the  German  trader  as 
pedlar  and  not  as  a  pioneer  of  civilisation — Thackeray  had 
not  long  finished  his  lectures  upon  the  English  Humorists 
of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  Mariner's  "  Tongan  Islands  " 
had  been  published  for  more  than  thirty  years,  but  the 
great  novelist  and  critic  did  not  take  it  seriously.  He 
classed  it  with  Daniel  Defoe's  immortal  book  as  a  work  of 
imagination,  and  placed  Mr.  William  Mariner  beside 
Mr.  Robinson  Crusoe.  Thackeray  was  concerned,  in  the 
introduction  to  his  lecture  on  Steele,  to  show  that  the 
histories  of  past  ages  are  more  often  wrong  than  right, 
while  contemporary  writers  may  prove  the  greatest  of  liars. 
"  You  offer  me  an  autobiography,"  he  says  :  "I  doubt 
all  autobiographies  I  ever  read ;  except  those,  perhaps, 
of  Mr.  Robinson  Crusoe,  Mariner,  and  writers  of  his  class. 
These  have  no  object  in  setting  themselves  right  with  the 
public  or  their  own  consciences  ;  these  have  no  motive  for 
concealment  or  half  truths ;  these  call  for  no  more  confi- 
dence than  I  can  cheerfully  give,  and  do  not  force  me  to 
tax  my  credulity  or  to  fortify  it  by  evidence.  I  take  up 
a  volume  of  Dr.  Smollett,  or  a  volume  of  the  Spectator, 
and  I  say  the  fiction  carries  a  greater  amount  of  truth  in 
solution  than  the  volume  which  purports  to  be  all  true." 
And  so  Mariner's  "  Tongan  Islands  "  was  dismissed  as 
fiction  or  its  equivalent.  It  was  not  even  honoured  by 
Thackeray  with  a  note,  as  other  references  had  been,  when 
the  lectures  were  published ;  and  one  of  the  best- known 
English  classics  to-day  is  offered  to  school  children,  who 
have  to  study  the  "  English  Humorists  "  for  University 
examinations,  without  a  glance  in  its  annotations  at 
Mr.  William  Mariner.  At  least,  the  editor  of  the  copy 
now  before  the  writer  apparently  knows  nothing  of  one 


14  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

of  the  best  books  about  an  important  island  group  in  the 
Pacific  that  ever  left  the  printer's  hands. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  elaborate  this  point,  because  the 
only  desire  now  is  to  show  how  little  the  Pacific  was  thought 
about  in  the  important  days  of  Germany's  advent  there. 
New  Zealand  was  then  the  furthest  point  from  England ;  and 
when  Dr.  George  Brown,  as  an  adventurous  youth,  decided 
to  try  his  luck  abroad  he  went  there  for  that  very  reason. 
So,  he  would  sometimes  humorously  remark,  did  other 
people  fly  to  the  Pacific  to  get  away  from  civilisation. 
Charles  Dickens  had  no  idea  when  he  wrote  "  Nicholas 
Nickleby  "  that  he  was  consigning  the  son  of  Wackford 
Squeers,  Esquire,  to  the  wilds  of  New  Zealand,  because 
of  a  libellous  attack  upon  the  original  of  his  horrible 
schoolmaster.  Dr.  George  Brown's  father  was  a  solicitor 
at  Barnard  Castle  when  "  Nicholas  Nickleby  "  was  pub- 
lished ;  and  the  original  of  Wackford  Squeers  called  upon 
him  one  day  to  see  whether  Dickens'  cruel  caricature  of 
his  school  and  of  himself  was  not  actionable,  but  Mr.  Brown 
strongly  advised  against  a  lawsuit.  It  would  only  advertise 
Dickens  and  very  probably  end  in  disappointment  for  the 
plaintiff,  who  was  already  nearly  ruined  by  the  book  in 
which  he  had  been  pilloried,  though  he  was  really  a  decent 
Yorkshire  schoolmaster  of  the  time.  Dr.  Brown  says  that 
he  was  a  respectable  man  who  did  not  deserve  in  the  least 
the  notoriety  he  had  been  given,  for  there  could  be  no 
question  that  his  school  had  been  taken  by  Dickens  as  a 
fair  example  of  an  abominable  system,  when  it  was  probably 
among  the  best  of  its  class.  But  the  son  of  the  much- 
maligned  schoolmaster  fled.  He  went  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth  to  get  away  from  the  horror  of  it  all,  and  on  a  farm 
in  New  Zealand  sought  refuge  from  the  consequences  of 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  THE  PACIFIC     15 

this  unjust  attack  upon  his  father.  It  may  be  mentioned 
that  even  the  Pacific  did  not  hide  him,  for  Dickens  was 
still  too  strong  for  him.  The  great  novelist,  who  vied  with 
Thackeray  for  chief  place  in  the  world's  regard  at  the 
moment,  afterwards  became  a  light  to  shine  still  further 
afield ;  and  New  Zealand  and  the  Pacific  were  advertised 
in  turn  as  it  became  known  that  Wackford  Squeers,  Junior, 
could  be  seen  there  by  enterprising  tourists.  In  the  end 
the  unfortunate  man  would  run  at  the  sight  of  strangers, 
so  the  story  goes.  And  thus  a  paradox  is  reached  as 
Germany  comes  again  into  focus. 

Behind  this  screen  of  indifference,  and  worse,  Germany 
entered  the  Pacific.  It  was  a  vast  desert  of  waters,  with 
islands  that  invited  exploitation  scattered  in  various 
directions ;  but  the  nations  of  Europe  were  thinking  of 
the  Crimea,  of  the  Indian  Mutiny,  of  the  Civil  War  in 
America,  and  finally,  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  and  the 
significance  of  German  trading  activity  was  not  realised. 
There  was  no  time  to  spare  for  the  Pacific,  and  practically  no 
reports  of  Germany's  doings  therein.  Missionary  enterprise 
indeed  was  receiving  some  notice ;  and  the  astonishing 
results  of  carrying  Christianity  to  the  islands  were 
undoubtedly  accepted  as  true  and  were  widely  commented 
upon.  Bishop  Selwyn  and  his  son,  heroic  missionaries 
like  Williams  and  Patteson,  and  men  of  flame  like  those 
who  carried  the  gospel  to  Fiji  and  elsewhere,  were  given 
their  place  and  fame  ;  but  Germany,  right  up  to  1884 
when  she  flung  a  bomb  into  the  Pacific  by  annexing  New 
Guinea,  worked  without  much  let  or  hindrance  from  an 
unwelcome  limelight.  It  is  true  that,  as  a  Power,  she 
was  more  or  less  under  surveillance.  She  was  suspect ; 
her  course  had  been  discovered  not  to  be  a  way  of  pleasant- 


16  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

ness,  nor  were  her  paths  those  of  peace.  But  British 
Governments  did  not  want  to  be  bothered  about  the  Pacific. 
Africa  was  more  than  enough  for  them  to  hold,  and  books 
about  that  continent  were  multiplying.  Who  does  not 
remember  as  a  boy  the  days  when  Speke  and  Grant  and 
Baker  were  telling  of  their  travels  and  explorations,  when 
Livingstone  was  filling  a  great  place  on  the  stage  as  mis- 
sionary and  pioneer,  and  when  Zulu  wars  and  South  African 
complications  were  absorbing  attention  ?  There  was  little 
room  for  the  Pacific ;  and  things  were  being  done  then 
with  impunity  by  German  traders,  which  if  attempted  at 
the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  would  have  roused  a 
tempest  of  controversy.  Yet  even  then  it  was  not  per- 
mitted to  speak  disrespectfully  of  Germany.  Under  the 
directing  hand  of  Bismarck  she  had  already  become 
something  of  a  world  bully,  and  the  rattling  sword  and 
shining  armour  of  the  German  Emperor  in  later  days 
were  only  a  natural  corollary.  Those  who  wrote  of  abuses 
or  atrocities  did  so  in  veiled  language,  or,  like  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson,  only  hinted  at  outrage  because  they  could  not 
be  sure  of  publication  if  they  dared  to  go  into  particulars 
or  to  give  chapter  and  verse.  Even  so,  Stevenson  stood 
up  to  Germany  and  scored  heavily  against  her ;  but  his 
"  Footnote  to  History  "  was  hardly  read  at  the  time, 
nor  has  it  been  accepted  since  as  a  reasonable  presentation 
of  the  facts.  The  recent  war,  no  doubt,  has  given  it 
a  new  value.  It  is  realised  now  that  there  must  have 
been  something  very  serious  behind ;  and  because  a 
genuine  case  lay  against  Germany,  which  could  not  then 
be  drawn  as  it  deserved,  the  present  book  is  now  being 
offered  to  the  public.  Stevenson's  story  of  Germany's 
doings  in  the  Pacific  was  a  flash  of  lightning  at  the  time, 
but  its  illumination  was  too  vivid  for  European  readers. 


CHAPTER  III 

NO   GERMAN   EXPLORATIONS 

Germany  before  1870.  Hamburg  and  the  Godeffroys. 
French  and  British  explorers.  Carteret  and  New  Britain. 
First  annexation  of  a  Pacific  island.  Bougainville  at  New 
Britain.  His  discovery  of  Carteret's  camp.  Beautemps- 
Beaupre  and  D'Entrecasteaux.  The  French  Revolution. 
Beautemps-Beaupr6  alive  in  1854. 

A  DOUBLE  difficulty  has  been  indicated  in  dealing  with 
Germany  in  the  Pacific,  and  the  obverse  side  of  it  lies  in 
her  relation  to  that  ocean.     Now,  before  1870  we  have 
to  think  of  Germany  as  divided,  but  still  truly  represented 
by  Prussia,  by  the  North  German  Confederation    in  its 
time,  or  by  the  Hanse  cities  of  Hamburg  and  Bremen. 
The  Godeffroys  came  from  Hamburg,  and  that  free  city 
had  long  been  identified  with  the  world's  great  oceans 
by  its  trade.     But,  as  has  been  truly  said,  the  German 
trader  has  been  ever  a  follower  of  civilisation,  not  a  leader 
in  the  van.     It  is  well  to  remember  this,  because  much  of 
the  case  against  Germany  consists  in  a  recognition  of  her 
readiness  to  take  advantage  of  other  nations,  to  appropriate 
the  results  of  their  work,  and  to  ignore  their  claims  when- 
ever occasion  demands  their  suppression.     The  way  in 
which  Great  Britain  and  France  were  treated  in  New 
Britain  and  New  Ireland  when  Germany  took  possession 
has   already   been   indicated.*     Place   names   have   been 
altered,  and  the  credit  due  to  French  and  British  explorers 
has  thus  been  insolently  denied.     German  exploration  in 

*  "  The  New  Pacific,"  Chap.  I. 
s.a.  c 


18  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

the  Pacific  had  not  preceded  German  trade ;  the  work  of 
exploration  had  already  been  done  for  Germany  through 
the  magnificent  endurance  and  self-denial  of  her  European 
neighbours.  The  present  chapter  is  written  just  to  show 
how  far  Great  Britain  and  France  paved  the  way  in 
genuine  co-operation ;  Germany  does  not  appear  in  it 
except  to  play  cuckoo  at  the  end. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  or  a  little  more  as  one 
writes,  Captain  Carteret  made  the  first  island  annexation 
in  the  Pacific  for  Great  Britain.  To  be  exact,  on  Septem- 
ber 7th,  1767,  he  landed  upon  what  he  thought  was  New 
Britain,  and  recorded  the  incident  as  follows  :  "  I  took 
possession  of  this  country  with  all  its  islands,  bays,  ports, 
and  harbours,  for  His  Majesty  George  III.,  King  of  Great 
Britain ;  and  we  nailed  upon  a  high  tree  a  piece  of  board 
faced  with  lead,  on  which  was  engraved  the  English  Union 
with  the  name  of  the  ship  and  her  commander,  the  name  of 
the  cove,  and  the  time  of  his  coming  in  and  falling  out  of 
it."  This  is  taken  from  the  "  Voyages  "  in  the  Hawkes- 
worth  Collection.  Thus  Carteret's  name  may  be  associated 
with  Dampier's,  Cook's,  Bougainville's,  D'Entrecasteaux', 
and  in  the  end,  Sir  William  MacGregor's.  He  was  surely 
one  of  the  most  adventurous  of  British  voyagers  and 
explorers  ;  and  the  two  French  navigators  mentioned  with 
him  give  the  link  with  France  which  no  true  history  of  the 
Pacific  can  overlook.  Indeed,  as  one  studies  the  exploring 
activity  of  France  in  that  ocean  in  the  later  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  the  earlier  years  of  the  nineteenth, 
there  is  a  singular  contrast  in  some  respects  with  that  of 
Great  Britain — to  the  disadvantage  of  the  latter.  The 
spirit  in  which  no  less  than  seven  or  eight  French  expeditions 
were  fitted  out,  the  fine  courtesy  and  admirable  ability  of 


NO  GERMAN  EXPLORATIONS          19 

the  men  to  whom  command  was  given,  and  the  general 
success  of  their  scientific  work,  deserve  more  space  than  is 
available  here.  At  times  there  might  be  competition 
sharpening  into  hostility ;  but  the  idea  of  the  principal 
French  navigators  in  those  days  seemed  to  be  that  so  far 
away  from  home  all  white  men  were  brothers.  They  were 
engaged  in  service  for  science,  not  necessarily  to  take 
possession  of  empty  lands ;  and  to-day  if  one  wishes  to 
know  something  fairly  exhaustive  about  the  flora  and 
fauna  of  Australasia  and  of  other  parts  of  the  Pacific,  when 
Carteret  and  Cook  were  alive,  when  British  vessels  were 
filled  with  convicts  or  when  British  explorers  and  settlers 
had  to  endure  the  most  abominable  privations  to  reach  the 
Antipodes,  it  is  not  to  English  books  that  one  must  go,  but 
to  French.  The  magnificent  volumes  of  the  French 
expeditions  still  remain  the  text  books  for  the  inquirer, 
though  his  interest  may  have  been  sharpened  by  the  results 
of  the  self-denying  labour  and  fine  patriotism  of  Sir  Joseph 
Banks,  who  accompanied  Captain  Cook  on  his  first  voyage, 
or  by  the  fruit  of  John  Gould's  ornithological  researches 
in  Australia  half  a  century  later.  Years  afterwards 
German  naturalists  and  botanists  came,  no  doubt,  to  carry 
on  the  work,  but  too  often  they  were  only  the  advance 
guard  of  the  German  trader,  or  even  spies  for  a  Germany 
ready  to  take  possession  where  other  nationalities  had  made 
a  way. 

Carteret  was  a  plain  British  sailor  like  Cook,  and  he  did 
his  work  in  spite  of  the  stinginess  of  the  Government  which 
sent  him  out.  He  even  lived  to  be  a  rear-admiral,  when 
by  all  the  signs  he  should  have  died  or  been  drowned  in  the 
Pacific.  Sir  Walter  Besant  thought  that  he  was  delibe- 
rately abandoned  by  Captain  Wallis,  who  commanded  the 

02 


20  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

expedition  which  resulted  in  the  above  incident,  after  they 
had  reached  the  Pacific  together.  Wallis  had  a  fine,  well- 
found  man-of-war,  while  Carteret  had  only  the  sloop 
Swallow,  which  lacked  the  commonest  necessaries  of  equip- 
ment, and  was  surely  never  intended  for  the  astonishing 
things  its  captain  achieved.  Captain  Wallis  may  have 
assumed  that  his  companion  would  turn  back  and  leave 
him  to  continue  the  voyage  through  the  Pacific  alone  ;  but 
Carteret  was  made  of  sterner  stuff  and  endured  to  the  end, 
reaching  England  with  the  knowledge  that  he  had  not 
suffered  in  vain.  It  was  at  an  inlet  called  English  Cove 
that  he  took  possession,  as  he  thought,  of  New  Britain  for 
George  III. ;  and  had  the  matter  been  allowed  to  stand 
Germany  would  never  have  spread  herself  as  she  has  done, 
even  to  the  displacement  of  Dampier's  name  for  New 
Britain  and  the  cool  dismissal  of  other  names  which  France 
and  England  had  fairly  won  the  right  to  instal.  But,  as  it 
happened,  Carteret  had  not  landed  upon  New  Britain  at  all, 
though  he  may  have  taken  possession  of  his  landing  place. 
He  had  been  driven  into  "  a  Deep  Bay  or  Gulph,"  which 
Dampier  had  named  Saint  George's  Bay ;  and  as  the 
current  seemed  to  indicate  a  channel  he  went  ahead  and 
found  that  the  original  so-called  New  Britain  was  two 
islands  instead  of  one.  New  Ireland  was  thus  placed  upon 
the  map.  The  "  Gulph,"  therefore,  was  altered  to  "  St. 
George's  Channel "  ;  and  the  Duke  of  York  Island,  which 
became  a  very  important  factor  in  Germany's  later  move 
for  possession,  was  discovered  in  the  passage  through. 

Three  months  after  Wallis  and  Carteret  left  England 
Bougainville  sailed  from  Nantes  ;  and  nine  months  later 
than  Carteret  he  reached  New  Ireland.  Carteret's  Gower 
Harbour  was  then  entered  and  called  Port  Praslin,  and  an 


NO  GERMAN  EXPLORATIONS          21 

eclipse  of  the  sun  was  observed  there.  "  This  observation," 
wrote  Bougainville,  "  is  so  much  the  more  important  as  it 
was  now  possible,  by  its  means,  and  by  the  astronomical 
observations  made  upon  the  coast  of  Peru,  to  determine  in 
a  certain  fixed  manner  the  extent  of  longitude  of  the  vast 
Pacific  Ocean,  which  till  now  had  been  so  uncertain."  But 
of  special  interest  also  was  the  discovery  of  Carteret's 
presence  there  before  them.  Bougainville  and  his  officers 
were  making  notes  of  the  birds  and  animals  they  saw  when 
a  sailor,  looking  for  shells,  found  the  remains  of  the  lead 
plate  just  mentioned,  which  had  evidently,  by  the  holes  in 
it,  been  torn  from  a  tree.  This  moved  the  party  to  search 
until  the  English  camp  was  found.  From  subsequent 
inquiries  at  Batavia  Bougainville  concluded  that  he  had 
come  upon  Carteret's  tracks,  and  wrote  :  "  This  is  a  very 
strange  chance  by  which  we,  among  so  many  lands,  came 
to  the  very  spot  where  this  rival  nation  had  left  a  monu- 
ment of  an  enterprise  similar  to  ours."  How  interesting 
European  nations  found  Bougainville's  history  of  his  voyage 
may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  his  "  Voyage  autour  du  Monde 
par  la  Fregate  du  Roi  La  Boudeuse  et  la  Flute  VEtoile, 
1766-1769,"  was  published  in  Paris  in  1771,  with  a  second 
edition  in  1772.  An  abridged  edition  with  a  German 
translation  appeared  in  Leipsic,  and  an  English  translation, 
by  John  Reinhold  Forster,  in  London,  in  the  latter  year.* 
The  quotation^  given  are  from  Forster's  translation. 

Bougainville,  before  he  finished,  set  his  mark  upon  the 
Pacific.  He  visited  the  Solomons  and  discovered  the 
Straits  which  were  called  after  himself;  while  an  island 
of  the  group  now  bears  his  name.  His  circumnavigation 
of  the  globe  was  considered  an  event  in  history,  and  it 

*  "  Circumnavigation  of  the  Globe,"  published  1859,  p.  210, 


22  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

ante-dated  Cook's  wonderful  voyages  by  eighteen  months. 
But  for  us  the  principal  interest  lies  in  his  over-running 
Carteret  as  he  did,  and  in  the  latter' s  preparation  for 
British  possession  of  lands  which  at  last  (in  1914)  had 
literally  to  be  thrust  by  war  into  the  mother  country's 
hands  through  an  Australian  expeditionary  force.  Not 
for  a  hundred  years  after  Carteret 's  landing  did  white  men 
make  any  attempt  to  secure  New  Britain  and  New  Ireland  ; 
and  then  Germany  changed  names  that  ought  to  have 
remained  upon  our  maps.  To  indicate  the  prominent 
mountain  at  the  entrance  of  Blanche  Bay  she  substituted 
the  name  of  Bismarck's  country  place,  Varzin,  for  that  of 
Beautemps-Beaupre,  and  generally  advertised  the  Iron 
Chancellor  by  applying  the  name  Bismarck  Archipelago 
to  denominate  the  whole  group. 

The  way  was  thus  opened  for  Germany  by  other  nations. 
A  whole  generation  of  British  and  French  enterprise  lies 
behind  the  discoveries  which  placed  Australia  in  view  ; 
but  after  all,  it  was  the  genuine  interest  of  George  III.  and 
Louis  XVI.  in  Pacific  exploration  which  made  much  of 
the  work  possible.  Thus  it  was  that  La  Perouse  visited 
Botany  Bay.  Captain  Cook  had  been  killed  and  no  one 
was  more  concerned  at  his  death  than  the  French  King, 
who  admired  the  English  navigator  and  desired  to  see  his 
work  carried  on.  La  Perouse  made  a  sensation  by  arriving 
with  his  two  vessels  the  Boussole  and  the  Astrolabe  just 
when  Captain  Phillip  and  the  first  fleet  were  moving  round 
to  Port  Jackson  from  Botany  Bay  ;  and  there  seemed 
to  be  a  suspicion  that  he  might  be  on  some  sort  of  cutting- 
out  expedition.  But  if  that  had  been  the  case  La  Perouse 
would  not  have  spent  six  months  in  the  far  north.  He 
would  have  gone  to  Australia  instead,  and  would  have 


NO  GERMAN  EXPLORATIONS          23 

been  in  ample  time  to  forestall  Captain  Phillip.  Assuredly 
he  could  have  annexed  the  south  of  Australia  for  France,, 
had  he  discovered  it,  for,  as  Professor  Ernest  Scott  hasj 
pointed  out  in  his  monograph,  Great  Britain  would  hardljl 
have  objected.  She  cared  little  enough  for  her  immediate 
share  of  the  continent  at  the  time.  When  La  Perouse 
sailed  away  he  was  never  seen  again  ;  and  D'Entrecasteaux 
was  sent  out  to  search  for  him  or  to  settle  the  question  of 
his  fate.  D'Entrecasteaux'  name  brings  in  that  of 
Beautemps-Beaupre,  which  has  been  used  in  connection 
with  the  annexation  of  New  Britain  and  New  Ireland 
in  evidence  of  German  insolence. 

D'Entrecasteaux  visited  these  islands  with  the  expedition 
of  which  he  was  commander,  having  with  him  a  very  able 
man  as  hydrographer-in-chief,  M.  Beautemps-Beaupre. 
One  would  like  to  know  a  good  deal  more  about  this  gentle- 
man, for  he  certainly  stands  in  great  repute  as  a  member 
of  D'Entrecasteaux'  scientific  staff.  Professor  Scott 
notes  that  D'Entrecasteaux  never  visited  Botany  Bay, 
although  it  was  the  last  point  of  call  for  La  Perouse,  and 
he  has  also  a  word  for  his  hydrographer-in-chief.  The 
south  coast  of  Australia  was  apparently  avoided  as  much 
as  the  east  coast.  "  That  great  chance  was  missed.  Some 
excellent  charting — which  ten  years  later  commanded  the 
cordial  admiration  of  Flinders — was  done  by  Beautemps- 
Beaupre,  who  was  D'Entrecasteaux'  cartographer,  especially 
round  about  the  S.W.  corner  of  the  continent."  *  The 
end  of  the  expedition  was  tragic  enough,  for  D'Entre- 
casteaux died  while  on  his  way  along  the  north  of  New 
Guinea ;  and  M.  D'Auribeau,  who  took  command,  also 
died  at  Sourabaya,  in  Java.  Finally,  on  arrival  at  Soura- 
*  "  La  Perouse,"  by  Ernest  Scott,  p.  87. 


24  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

baya,  news  was  given  of  the  French  Revolution,  the 
beheading  of  Louis  XVI.,  and  the  end  of  everything.  The 
frigates  were  dismantled  and  the  officers  and  crew  became 
divided  into  two  parties.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  most 
of  these  sailed  for  Europe  in  two  Dutch  vessels  ready  to 
leave  Sourabaya,  but  some  were  captured  by  English 
cruisers,  "  including  those  on  board  of  which  were  the 
journals,  naturalists,  their  whole  collection  of  specimens 
and  all  the  materials  of  their  history,  nautical  and 
scientific."  *  There  is  a  note  to  the  chapter  from  which 
this  quotation  is  taken  that  may  appropriately  be  given 
here.  It  runs  :  "  The  plans  and  papers  drawn  by 
M.  Beautemps-Beaupre,  hydrographer-in-chief,  were  among 
those  captured  on  board  the  Esperance,  and  placed  with 
others  in  the  hands  of  the  Admiralty."  An  allegation  was 
made  later  on  that  these  were  used  by  the  Admiralty, 
although  they  had  been  put  into  the  possession  of  M.  Rossel, 
"  comme  Tomcier  le  plus  ancien  de  1'expedition  "  ;  but 
the  editor  responsible  for  the  charge  afterwards  admitted 
that  he  had  made  a  mistake.  This  charge  against  Great 
Britain  appeared  in  the  "  Bibliotheque  Universelle  des 
Voyages  "  ;  but  the  actual  account  of  the  expedition, 
which  ended  with  so  much  disappointment  for  M.  Beau- 
temps-Beaupr6  at  the  moment,  was  published  when 
Napoleon  Buonaparte  was  at  the  height  of  his  power,  and 
by  his  order.  D'Entrecasteaux'  hydrographer-in-chief 
lived  on  till  1854,  when  Bismarck  had  made  his  place  as 
the  coming  man  in  Prussia,  just  about  the  time  when  the 
firm  of  Godeffroy  &  Son  began  its  trading  in  the  Pacific 
with  Samoa  as  centre.  He  may  have  seen  the  signs  of 
Germany's  power  and  perhaps  realised  that  a  new  day  was 
*  "  Circumnavigation  of  the  Globe,"  1859,  p.  494. 


NO  GERMAN  EXPLORATIONS          25 

breaking  with  heavy  clouds  upon  the  horizon.  But  he 
surely  never  imagined  that  it  would  be  a  Germany  small 
and  mean  enough,  though  great  beyond  all  precedent, 
to  rob  him  of  an  honour  fairly  won  in  the  exploration  of 
the  world's  widest  ocean.  Mount  Beautemps-Beaupre  has 
disappeared  from  the  maps  since  Germany  took  possession 
of  New  Britain,  but  it  may  well  reappear  now  the  work 
of  the  Peace  Conference  has  been  completed. 


CHAPTER  IV 

A   MACHIAVELLIAN   POLICY 

Interesting  documents.  New  Zealand  Blue  Book  of  1874. 
Stonehewer  Cooper's  "  Coral  Lands."  Miss  Gordon  Cum- 
ming's  writings.  Sterndale  a  GodefEroy  employee.  Louis 
Becke  another  Godeffroy  employee.  Trood  a  third  em- 
ployee. Trood's  "  Island  Keminiscences."  Thackeray 
again.  Silence  about  Germany's  "  black  labour  "  traffic. 
Stevenson's  light  upon  it.  Sterndale's  testimonial. 

PROMINENT  among  many  interesting  documents  relating 
to  the  Pacific  is  a  Blue  Book  issued  by  the  New  Zealand 
Government  in  1874.  The  Hon.  Julius  Vogel  was  then 
Premier,  and  it  was  just  before  he  went  to  England  as 
Agent-General.  He  became  Sir  Julius  in  1875,  and  while 
in  London  had  plenty  of  opportunity  to  push  his  ideas  about 
extending  the  Empire  in  the  great  ocean  whence  he  had 
travelled  to  the  home  land.  The  Blue  Book  in  question  is 
entitled,  "  Papers  relating  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,"  and 
it  is  made  up  of  memoranda,  addresses,  and  despatches. 
As  Premier,  Sir  Julius  Vogel  had  written  many  times  about 
the  position  in  the  Pacific,  and  the  Governor  of  New  Zealand, 
when  transmitting  the  various  papers  to  the  Colonial 
Office,  added  important  comments  of  his  own.  But,  in 
order  to  throw  all  possible  light  upon  the  subject,  the 
various  island  groups,  and  the  danger  in  which  they  stood 
from  German  designs,  were  dealt  with  in  reports  or  memo- 
randa provided  by  authorities  upon  the  Pacific.  In  parti- 
cular an  ex-employee  of  Godeffroy  &  Son  was  asked  to  set 
down  the  facts  about  the  islands  in  general  and  about  the 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  POLICY  27 

* 

German  firm  in  particular.  The  result  is  an  exceedingly 
interesting  document  which  has  been  quoted  with  con- 
siderable effect  in  Lowe's  "  Life  of  Bismarck,"  though  credit 
is  given  therein  to  H.  Stonehewer  Cooper's  "  Coral  Lands," 
instead  of  to  the  source  from  which  the  main  facts  were 
obtained.  Mr.  Stonehewer  Cooper,  a  clergyman,  acknow- 
ledged his  indebtedness  to  Mr.  H.  B.  Sterndale,  the  ex- 
employee  of  Godeffroy  &  Son,  but  managed  to  incorporate 
so  much  of  the  latter's  matter  in  his  book  that  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  tell  it  from  his  own.  However,  Miss  Gordon 
Gumming  also  used  Sterndale's  report,  with  due  acknow- 
ledgments ;  and  the  result  in  her  case  was  a  slashing  in- 
dictment of  the  German  firm.  There  is  no  doubt  some  very 
good  evidence  against  Godeffroy  &  Son  found  in  the 
Sterndale  report ;  but  at  the  time  it  was  written,  and  in 
the  succeeding  years  up  to  1914,  Germany  was  too  great 
a  Power  to  be  attacked  without  serious  circumspection. 
In  his  "  Footnote  to  History,"  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 
does  not  refer  to  the  New  Zealand  Blue  Book  of  1874.  Pro- 
bably even  in  1892  copies  of  it  had  become  exceedingly 
scarce  ;  and  the  present  writer  has  to  thank  the  Mitchell 
Library  in  Sydney  for  access  to  it,  since  the  present  book 
was  begun. 

It  is  possible  that  the  appearance  of  Rev.  H.  Stonehewer 
Cooper's  book  in  1880  moved  Miss  Gordon  Cumming  to  use 
the  Sterndale  report  for  her  own  book  "  A  Lady's  Cruise  in 
a  French  Man-of-War,"  which  appeared  in  1882.  Like  the 
ex-employee  of  Godeffroy  &  Son,  she  knew  the  Pacific  from 
actual  experience  ;  and  her  voyage  in  1877,  at  the  invita- 
tion of  the  captain  of  the  French  man-of-war,  the  Seignelay, 
was  an  interesting  and  informative  supplement  to  her 
experiences  in  Fiji  when,  as  a  member  for  two  years  of  the 


28  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

household  of  Sir  Arthur  Gordon,  the  earliest  Governor,  she 
learned  to  know  the  Pacific  at  first  hand.  Miss  Gordon 
Cumming  was  evidently  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
Godeffroy  activities  and  with  the  treacherous  nature  of 
their  methods  of  extending  trade.  In  this  connection  the 
Sterndale  report  does  not  disguise  the  facts.  Nor  need 
readers  of  it,  as  will  be  shown  from  other  documents,  be 

(under  any  misconception  as  to  the  spirit  in  which  white 
men  other  than  Germans  were  treated.  They  were  to  be 
broken  on  the  German  wheel,  and  all  that  the  British  or 
American  competitor  stood  for  in  modern  civilisation  was 
to  be  disregarded.  Christianity  and  the  ordinary  rules  of 
morality  were  out  of  date  in  the  Pacific,  according  to  the 
Godeffroy  plan  as  laid  down  by  Theodor  Weber  ;  and  every 
care  was  taken  otherwise  that  the  world  should  know  as 
little  as  possible  of  what  was  being  done.  The  manager, 
^Poppe,  who  took  Weber's  place  when  the  latter  returned 
to  Hamburg  for  a  season,  usually  asked  a  man  who  wanted 
to  become  an  employee  of  the  firm  three  questions.  The 
first  had  relation  to  the  natives  of  the  island  or  group  to 
which  the  man  was  prepared  to  go  :  "  Can  you  speak  the 
language  ?  "  The  second  was  :  "  Can  you  live  among  the 
natives  without  quarrelling  with  them  ?  "  And  the  third — 
most  important  of  all  :  "  Can  you  keep  your  mouth  shut  ?  " 
Mr.  Sterndale  explains  in  his  report  that  the  meaning  of  the 
last  question  was  that  there  must  be  no  talking  about  the 
firm's  business  with  other  white  men.  Missionaries  were 
to  be  discredited  and  opposed  everywhere.  They  were  a 
dangerous  nuisance,  for  they  told  the  natives  that  they 
were  men  and  women  with  souls  like  Europeans,  and  with 
equal  rights  to  life  and  liberty.  It  was  nonsense,  in  the 
Godeffroy  reading  of  native  claims,  that  their  women  should 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  POLICY  29 

be  regarded  as  anything  else  than  the  white  man's  play- 
things. Every  German  could  do  as  he  pleased,  but  there 
must  be  no  marriage  with  native  women,  and  Miss  Gordon 
Gumming  underscores  this  challenge  to  civilisation  with  a 
heavy  pen. 

In  passing,  it  may  be  noted  that  a  great  deal  of  light  is 
thrown  upon  Pacific  history  by  the  comments  and  annota- 
tions of  one  authority  on  another.  Mr.  Stonehewer  Cooper 
has  nothing  to  say  about  these  revelations  of  the  German 
spirit,  while  Miss  Gordon  Gumming  speaks  out  indignantly 
against  the  "  Graballs  "  of  the  Pacific.  She  notes  the 
"  establishments  "  kept  up  by  Godeffroy's  employees,  and, 
curiously  enough,  it  was  upon  the  margin  of  Mr.  Stone- 
hewer  Cooper's  book  that  Louis  Becke  added  a  special  word 
of  endorsement.  "  Coral  Lands "  was  sufficiently  well 
received  to  warrant  an  Australasian  edition  in  1888,  but  with 
the  title  altered  to  "  The  Islands  of  the  Pacific."  Louis 
Becke' s  copy  of  the  latter  is  in  the  Mitchell  Library,  with 
the  chapter  dealing  with  Bully  Hayes  copiously  annotated. 
But  the  chapter  which  embodies  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  Sterndale  report  is  also  marked — the  principal  allega- 
tions with  an  affirmative  as  to  their  truth — and,  where  the 
establishment  of  the  Godeffroys  at  Apia  is  set  down  in  detail 
in  1872,  an  omission  is  supplied  with  startling  emphasis. 
Sterndale  had  given  the  number  of  men — superintendent, 
surgeon,  surveyor,  etc. — but  had  left  out  the  native  women 
provided  for  their  enjoyment.  But  Louis  Becke  was  also\ 
at  one  time  an  employee  of  Godeffroy  &  Son  as  recruiting) 
agent  and  trader.  He  has  left  on  record  his  experiences, 
as  one  seeing  the  show  from  the  inside,  and  he  is  quite  frank 
about  the  business  in  hand.  Black  labour  from  the  Gilbert 
and  Solomon  Islands  and  from  other  groups  was  urgently 


30  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

required  for  the  Upolu  plantations,  and  recruiters  were 
specially  wanted.  But  everything  in  the  early  seventies 
was  done  in  secret.  The  foundations  of  a  great  business  in 
the  Pacific  were  laid  with  great  caution,  and  vessels  left 
Apia  under  sealed  orders  so  that  nobody  knew  their  destina- 
tion. Miss  Gordon  Gumming  notes  this  in  her  book  with 
some  feeling  because  she  was  never  sure  of  a  mail  for  her 
letters  while  in  Samoa.  Godeffroy's  varied  activities  in 
the  Pacific  never  helped  her.  But  Louis  Becke  tells  his 
side  of  the  story  on  this  point  with  sufficient  directness. 
Godeffroy's  schooners  sailed  everywhere,  and  they  were 
put  in  commission  to  kill  other  trade  wherever  competition 
appeared.  Always,  too,  there  was  dislike,  growing  to 
hatred,  of  everything  British.  The  instructions  to  Gode- 
ffroy's traders  were  that  they  were  to  undersell  and  finally 
drive  out  rivals  at  any  cost.  All  losses,  in  this  connection, 
would  be  considered.  Becke's  article,  of  which  the  above 
is  a  brief  summary,  concludes  :  "  During  a  residence  and 
continuous  voyages  of  half  a  lifetime,  in  and  about  the 
Pacific  Islands,  the  writer  has  gained  some  knowledge  of 
German  action  towards  the  hated  Englishman.  .  .  .  The 
managers  of  these  companies  are,  often  enough,  in  receipt  of 
secret  service  pay  as  a  reward  for  '  blocking  '  the  expansion 
and  continuance  of  British  trade,  inciting  the  natives  to 
mischief  wherever  a  British  trader  founds  a  new  station  in 
Northern  Melanesia,  and  injuring  British  interests  in  any 
way,  no  matter  in  how  ignoble  or  paltry  a  manner.  .  .  . 
Twenty  years  ago  when  a  German  trader  was  in  fear  of  his 
life  from  attack  by  the  savage  natives  of  the  Solomon 
Islands,  he  would  flee  for  safety  to  his  nearest  English 
neighbour,  and,  later  on,  appeal  to  the  commander  of  a 
British  warship  for  reinstatement  and  protection.  .  .  . 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  POLICY  31 

There  seems  to  be,  in  the  German  mind,  an  utter  forgetful- 
ness  of  all  that  Englishmen  have  done  for  them  in  Oceania."  * 
This  was  dated  from  France,  on  September  9th,  1905,  long 
before  the  recent  war  began,  when  it  was  still  an  article  in 
the  creed  of  many  British  statesmen  that  Germany  was  a 
peace-lover  at  heart  and  only  asked  for  a  fair  field  and  no 
favour.  Louis  Becke  knew  better.  His  article  in  some 
details  is  not  trustworthy,  because  he  does  not  mention 
Theodor  Weber  as  the  man  behind  the  gun  in  the  Pacific 
in  the  most  important  period  of  German  trading  history 
there.  He  only  recalls  the  first  manager  of  Godeffroy  & 
Son,  Anselm,  who  was  drowned  in  1864,  ten  years  after  the 
firm  was  established  in  Samoa.  But  when  he  speaks  of  his 
own  experiences  as  an  employee  he  is  on  solid  ground  ;  and 
he  gives  earnest  affirmation  to  the  Sterndale  report,  repro- 
duced so  voluminously  by  Stonehewer  Cooper,  where  the 
methods  of  Weber  and  his  successor  are  recounted. 

A  third  employee  of  Godeffroy  &  Son  may  be  quoted  in 
Thomas  Trood,  whose  "  Island  Reminiscences  "  were  pub- 
lished in  Sydney,  two  years  before  the  war  of  1914  was  in 
full  flame ;  he  died  in  1916.  Trood's  book  is  an  extra- 
ordinary hash  of  dates  and  incidents  ;  and,  like  a  dictionary, 
makes  very  disconnected  reading.  But  it  is  full  of  interest, 
because  important  events,  prominent  people,  and  the  years 
in  which  they  appeared  and  passed  out,  are  clearly  given. 
A  curious  fact  must  be  mentioned  in  the  somewhat 
breathless  reference  everywhere  to  Theodor  Weber,  and  to  i 
the  German  trade  machine's  working  throughout  the 
Pacific.  It  is  that  Godeffroy's  great  manager  is  given  the 
highest  possible  character.  He  was  everything  to  all  men, 
as  has  been  already  discerned  in  the  success  of  his  opera- 
*  Sydney  Daily  Telegraph,  December  10th.  1905.  A 


32  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

tions  ;  and  Thomas  Trood  speaks  of  his  patriotism  in  terms 
which  would  argue  that  he  could  do  no  wrong  even  when 
preparing  to  treat  Tonga  as  Samoa  had  been  treated. 
Indeed  the  admission  is  made  in  "  Island  Reminiscences  " 
that  the  two  men  parted  company  because  Weber's  German 
patriotism  made  it  impossible  for  Trood  as  a  Briton,  and 
also  a  patriot,  to  work  further  with  him.  Trood  left 
\  Godeffroy's  employment  in  1879,  illustrating  in  his  own 
person  the  truth  that  the  Hamburg  firm  was  willing  to  use 
men  of  every  nationality  in  furtherance  of  its  plans.  Louis 
Becke  admits  that  the  policy  was  to  range  up  alongside  rival 

I  firms  or  individual  traders,  destroy  their  business,  and  when 
they  were  ruined  to  take  them  on  the  Godeffroy  pay-roll. 
Half  of  the  vessels  in  the  Godeffroy  fleet  in  the  Pacific  were 
apparently  British  owned  and  were  chartered  to  serve  the 
Godeffroy  ends. 

In  the  next  chapter  an  outline  will  be  attempted  of  the 
history  of  the  Godeffroy  policy,  merging  after  1870  into  an 
imperial  German  plan  of  campaign  in  the  Pacific.  This 
should  be  possible  by  the  aid  of  these  three  witnesses,  who 
knew  the  firm  so  well  and  who  have  given  evidence  from  the 
inside  ;  but  again,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  criticisms  of 
one  witness  upon  another,  and  the  notes  of  authorities  on 
the  Pacific  upon  books  already  written,  have  made  much 
comparatively  easy  which  could  not  otherwise  be  attempted. 
This  method  of  tracing  a  course  of  events  has  a  very  fasci- 
nating side.  What,  for  instance,  would  Thackeray  say  if 
to-day  he  were  to  enter  the  Mitchell  Library,  in  Sydney, 
and  look  through  the  shelves  devoted  to  the  literature  of 
certain  island  groups  ?  Here  is  the  section  dealing  with 
Tonga,  and  prominent  in  it  are  the  editions  of  Mariner's 
"  Tongan  Islands,"  whose  6ew6  fides  he  so  confidently  dis- 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  POLICY  33 

counted.  Dr.  Martin,  no  doubt,  at  first  gave  some  ground 
in  his  title  page  for  dubiety  about  Mariner's  existence  ;  for 
this  story  of  a  returned  exile  from  some  tar-away  island  of  a 
little-known  group  is  not  told  at  first  hand.  Dr.  Martin 
had  to  present  Mariner  to  the  public  after  reducing  an 
account  of  his  experiences  to  writing,  and  the  narrative 
apparently  only  appealed  to  Thackeray  as  a  very  good 
duplicate  of  Robinson  Crusoe.  But  in  the  Mitchell  Library 
is  a  first  edition,  with  every  chapter  extended  and  criticised 
by  somebody  who  had  found  the  book  a  veritable  field  of 
discovery.  Probably  some  missionary  who  had  lived  in 
Tonga  was  studying  and  annotating  Mariner  at  the  time 
that  Thackeray  was  writing  his  "  English  Humourists  "  and 
dismissing  the  book  as  good  fiction.  This  first  edition  was 
published  in  London  in  1817,  and  a  French  translation 
appeared  in  Paris  in  the  same  year.  A  second  edition 
followed  in  London  in  1818.  Two  years  later,  in  Boston,  an 
American  edition  was  published  ;  and  beside  these  volumes 
in  the  Mitchell  Library  is  a  delightful  edition  published 
in  Edinburgh,  in  1827 — *'  considerably  improved  " — for 
serious  Scottish  readers  !  Mariner  has  been  widely  read, 
and  those  who  know  Tonga  best  declare  that  he  still  is  un- 
approached  as  the  historian  of  the  group  up  to  the  date  of 
his  compulsory  residence  there.  This  scrutiny  and  annota- 
tion have  been  going  on  all  the  time  since.  Here  in  one's 
hand  is  Rev.  J.  B.  Stair's  "  Old  Samoa,"  with  Dr.  Brown's 
notes  upon  its  margins  ;  and  his  final  word  to  the  present 
writer  was  that  it  was  "  good,  right  through  " — fit  to  place 
beside  Mariner's  "  Tonga."  Mr.  Stair  was  another  dweller 
in  the  Pacific  who  took  a  keen  interest  in  everything,  and 
was  able  later  on  to  place  important  facts  on  record  for  the 
use  of  students  and  an  interested  public.  Unfortunately, 

SO.  D 


34  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

this  particuK  *•  history  stops  short  of  the  Godeffroy  era  ;  and 
neither  Mariner  nor  Stair  has  any  light  to  throw  upon 
international  rivalry  in  the  Pacific.  They  indicate  the 
foundations,  however,  upon  which  any  student  worth  the 
name  has  to  work ;  and  the  beginnings  of  history  in  such 
wise  have  been  well  laid  even  in  the  ocean  which  has  been 
lost  to  view  for  so  long. 

Among  the  British  Blue  Books,  in  this  connection,  is 
one  published  in  1889,  just  as  the  crisis  was  developing 
which  ended  with  the  historic  hurricane.  Sir  John 
Thurston  (then  Mr.  and  Acting  Governor  of  Fiji)  had  been 
appointed  with  Consul-General  Travers,  the  German 
j  representative,  as  a  Commission  to  report  on  Samoan 
affairs  between  1885  and  1889 — the  period  covered  by  the 
»  Blue  Book — and  some  very  interesting  reading  is  to  be 
found  in  the  official  document.  It  embodies  all  the 
despatches,  reports,  and  promulgations  of  the  period  as 
they  bear  upon  Samoa.  But  specially  do  the  Thurston 
comments  illuminate  an  unhappy  period  and  invite  criticism 
in  their  confident  challenge  of  other  writers  and  publicists. 
Thus  the  New  Zealand  Blue  Book  of  1874,  the  Gordon 
Gumming  volume  following,  the  British  Blue  Book  of 
1889,  and  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's  "  Footnote  to  History," 
cover  most  of  the  ground  between  Godeffroy's  advent  to 
the  Pacific  in  1854  and  the  final  settlement  of  Samoa  by 
the  Treaty  of  1900. 

The  most  important  fact,  however,  which  has  to  be 
faced^is  the  silence  of  nearly  everybody  concerned  about 
Germany's  share  in  the  black  labour  traffic,  which  had 
developed  since  the  white  man  discovered  illimitable 
wealth  in  cocoa-nuts  and  sugar-cane  under  Pacific  condi- 
tions. Not  until  Stevenson's  "  Footnote  to  History " 


A  MACHIAVELLIAN  POLICY  35 

appeared  was  it  suggested  that  the  firm  of  Godeffroy  &  Son 
could  be  a  party  to  enslaving  the  natives.     Consequently, 
with  German  possession  of  Samoa  completed  in  1900,  and 
with  a  period  of  supposed  unimpeachable  administration 
since,  the  difficulty  of  establishing  any  case  against  Germany 
is  considerably  enhanced.     It  was  Stevenson's  great  crime, 
therefore,  that  he  destroyed  the  legend  of  German  impecca- 
bility.    His  notes  upon  the  position,  as  he  saw  it  in  Samoa, 
were  a  revelation  which  became  a  serious  obstacle  in  the 
path  of  Consuls  and  British  High  Commissioners,  anxious 
to  smooth  away  difficulties  between  competitors  in  the 
group.     Stevenson  was  not  then  taken  by  the  whole  world 
as  a  man  concerned  to  tell  the  truth,  but  as  a  novelist  with 
a  bee  in  his  bonnet,  or  as  a  romancer  in  the  Pacific  letting 
his  imagination  run  away  with  him.     But,  though  to-day 
his  "  Footnote  to  History  "  can  be  read  in  the  fierce  new 
light  of  the  great  war,  few  realise  what  a  wonderful  comment 
it  is  upon  the  German  policy  of  secrecy  in  the  Pacific. 
When  people  in  Australasia  are  asked,  therefore,  to  tell 
what  they  know  about  the  treatment  of  the  natives  by 
Germany  they  cannot  turn  to  Sterndale,  Becke,  or  Trood 
for  direct  evidence.     Nor,  indeed,  can  they  quote  Miss 
Gordon   Cumming.     It  is  certainly  asserted  that  native 
women  everywhere  were  regarded  as  a  convenient  means 
for  German  enjoyment ;  but  the  actual  recruiting  of  native 
labour  and  the  practical  enslavement  of  men  and  women 
for  work  on  the  plantations  is  not  dealt  with  by  any.     The 
Sterndale  report  goes  out  of  its  way  to  give  Godeffroy  & 
Son  an  excellent  testimonial,  although  Sir  Julius    Vogel 
had  made  the  labour  traffic  one  of  his  principal  reasons 
for  demanding  that  Great  Britain  should  step  in  at  once 
and  take  possession  of  various  island  groups,  or  at  any  rate, 

i>  2 


36  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

help  New  Zealand  to  do  so.  This  will  be  dealt  with  in 
due  course.  At  present  it  is  enough  to  point  out  that  the 
documents  can  only  be  quoted  by  a  method  of  cross 
examination,  and  that  even  so,  the  final  judgment  must  be 
reached  on  something  very  like  circumstantial  evidence. 

But,  while  discussing  the  documents,  reference  may  be 
made  to  American  comment  upon  German  ways  in  the 
Pacific.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  President  Cleve- 
land had  to  make  notes  and  express  opinions  for  the  world's 
behoof,  but  this  was  upon  the  position  in  general.  In  his 
message  to  Congress  from  the  Executive  Mansion  in 
Washington  in  the  beginning  of  1889  he  complained  that 
Germany  was  not  playing  the  game ;  and  we  know  how 
near  American  and  German  men-of-war  were  to  actual 
conflict  in  Samoa  during  that  year.  Now  it  was  at  the  end 
of  1889  that  Stevenson  appeared;  and  what  President 
Cleveland  had  laid  down  in  January  was  soon  grasped  by 
the  keen  observer  of  men  and  things  on  the  spot  in  December. 
When  the  Scot  took  up  his  pen  in  1891  and  1892  he  reviewed 
the  history  of  the  eight  years  since  Germany  jumped  on 
New  Guinea  and  hauled  up  her  flag  in  the  Bismarck 
Archipelago.  So  the  round  of  examination  extends. 
Stevenson  must  be  studied  if  the  truth  is  to  be  reached, 
while  the  protests  and  powerful  interference  of  the  United 
States  add  weight  to  each  inference  that  Germany  could 
never  be  trusted  in  the  Pacific  either  in  her  relations  with 
white  men  or  natives. 


CHAPTER  V 

AN    OUTLINE 

Sir  John  Thurston's  report.  Godeffroy's  advent  and 
progress.  Weber  as  dictator  and  German  Consul.  A  net- 
work of  trading  stations.  The  manager  and  the  missionary. 
A  great  programme  laid  down.  America  and  Pago  Pago. 
Stevenson's  evidence  begins.  Political  history  of  Samoa. 
Samoan  wars.  Germany  always  interfering.  Sainoan  in- 
stability served  the  German  purpose. 

In  1886  Sir  John  Thurston  was  commissioned  to  report 
upon  the  condition  of  Samoa.  He  may  have  quoted  from 
the  Sterndale  report,  when  he  wanted  the  date  of  Godeffroy 
&  Son's  advent  in  the  Pacific  ;  but  at  any  rate,  he  adopted 
the  year  mentioned  by  Sterndale,  1857,  without  qualifica- 
tion, and  he  gives  no  references  which  would  make  the 
date  more  certain.  This  is  contained  in  the  Blue  Book 
already  mentioned,  issued  by  the  British  Government  on  • 
the  affairs  of  Samoa,  1885 — 1889. 

But  Thomas  Trood  declares  that  he  himself  landed 
in  Samoa  for  the  first  time  in  1857  and  found  Godeffroy 
&  Son  already  established,  with  an  enterprising  manager 
in  charge  who  had  been  there  nearly  four  years.  This 
manager,  Unselm  or  Anselm  (the  latter  is  Sterndale's 
and  Louis  Becke's  spelling),  had  been  in  charge  of 
the  firm's  business  at  Valparaiso,  and  this  is  an  indi- 
cation of  the  range  of  activities  of  Hamburg  merchants 
in  those  days.  Indeed,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
great  free  city  of  Hamburg  made  a  name  for  its  enter- 


I 


38  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

prise  throughout  the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  Spanish 
Main ;  and  had  it  been  true  to  its  traditions  in  the 
early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  would  have 
been  little  trouble  over  Samoa  and  the  other  island 
groups  in  the  Pacific,  to  which  its  trade  was  taken.  In 
the  early  fifties,  then,  Messrs.  Godeffroy  had  a  fleet  of 
vessels  which  centred  upon  Cochin  at  one  end  of  the 
Pacific  and  worked  round  through  the  Atlantic  to 
Valparaiso  at  the  other  end. 

A  paragraph  in  the  Sterndale  report  is  worth  giving  here 
because  it  sums  up  so  much  of  the  early  history  of  the  firm 
in  the  Pacific.  "  At  this  time,"  says  Mr.  Sterndale,  "  it 
was  customary  for  Tahitian  traders  to  dispose  of  their 
produce  at  Valparaiso,  and  to  return  to  the  Society  Islands 
with  cargoes  of  flour,  etc.,  for  the  supply  of  the  French 
garrison.  The  attention  of  Mr.  Anselm,  the  agent  of 
Messrs.  Godeffroy,  was  attracted  to  their  operations. 
He  visited  the  Society  Isles,  and,  perceiving  the  great 
profits  which  Messrs.  Hort  Brothers  and  John  Brander 
were  making  by  the  traffic  in  cocoa-nut  oil  and  pearl  shell, 
he  himself  established  an  agency  in  the  Paumotos.  Messrs. 
Hort  and  Brander  had  separate  branch  establishments 
in  the  Navigator  Isles  (Samoa),  which  they  made  an  inter- 
mediate station  between  Tahiti  and  Sydney.  Anselm, 
following  their  example,  removed  himself  there,  and,  under 
instructions  from  his  principals  in  Hamburg,  made  it  the 
headquarters  of  their  operations  in  the  Pacific.  He  was 
lost  at  sea,  but  the  establishment  which  he  founded 
flourished  and  assumed  gigantic  proportions.  By  the 
exercise  of  great  tact  and  a  show  of  liberality  in  dealing 
with  the  natives,  he  and  his  successor  (Mr.  Theodor  Weber) 
in  a  great  measure  swallowed  up  the  trade  of  the  Samoan 


AN   OUTLINE  39 

group,  and  in  a  manner  thrust  both  Hort  and  Brander 
off  their  own  ground,  as  far  as  that  portion  of  the 
Pacific  was  concerned."  * 

According  to  Trood  the  first  Godeffroy  manager,  Unselm, 
was  drowned  in  a  hurricane  in  1864  after  about  ten  years 
of  success  in  establishing  the  firm's  business.  Weber  had 
joined  him  in  1861,  a  clerk  trained  under  the  eyes  of  the 
firm  in  Hamburg,  who  on  his  departure  for  the  Pacific  was 
actually  appointed  first  Consul  for  Hamburg  and  the  North 
German  Confederation.  This  was  the  entry  of  the  German 
Consulate  to  the  great  ocean,  and  Stevenson  well  notes 
its  power  for  making  mischief  in  the  troubled  affairs  of 
Samoa.  Trood  says  that  when  Augustus  Unselm  died 
Weber,  though  too  young  to  be  given  definite  control, 
nevertheless  took  charge  of  the  business.  It  is  singular 
that  Weber  should  have  been  found  mature  enough  for 
the  post  of  Consul ;  but  as  there  could  have  been  little 
enough  to  do  in  that  office  in  1861  the  appointment  had 
prospective  rather  than  immediate  value.  Every  year 
would  challenge  the  disability  of  youth  with  weaker  touch  ; 
and  when  1870  came,  with  the  war  against  France  and  the 
emergence  of  united  Germany,  Weber  became  Imperial 
German  Consul.  Thus  in  1874,  while  Sterndale  was' 
writing  his  report,  the  Bismarck  among  German  traders 
was  firmly  in  the  saddle,  not  only  as  Godeffroy's  omnipotent 
manager,  but  also  as  Germany's  recognised  official  repre- 
sentative in  the  Pacific.  These  two  facts  must  be 
kept  together  and  always  remembered,  for  they  explain 
most  of  the  history  of  German  duplicity  up  to  the 
exploitation  and  annexation  of  the  island  groups  to  the 
north  in  and  after  1884.  Weber  died  just  before  the 
*  New  Zealand  Blue  Book,  1874,  p.  3. 


40  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

great  hurricane  of  1889  which  broke  the  American  and 
German  war  vessels  upon  the  reefs  in  Apia  Harbour,  but 
his  nearly  thirty  years  of  activity  were  exceedingly 
fruitful. 

By  the  end  of  1869,  Thomas  Trood  remarks  in  his 
"  Island  Reminiscences,"  Weber  Jbad  established  "  a 
network  of  trading  stations  from  ^ew^ Britain  in  the  north 
to  Tongatabu  in  the  south,  including  the  Line  Islands." 
Everything  centred  upon  his  will  at  Samoa.  There  he 
directed  a  hundred  different  activities,  and  when  not  con- 
cerned with  the  intricacies  of  a  great  web  of  trade  he  was 
watching  the  development  of  Godeffroy's  plantations  on  the 
island  of  Upolu  with  Apia  as  his  head  office.  Trood  speaks 
of  him  in  the  highest  terms  and  says  that  he  had  reason  to 
know  him,  as  Weber  lived  in  his  house  at  Tonga  for  more 
than  twelve  months.  Dr.  Brown  always  admitted  the 
man's  wonderful  force  and  charm.  The  manager  and  the 
missionary  got  on  very  well  together ;  and  when  Weber 
on  one  occasion  refused  to  give  anybody  exchange  except 
at  exorbitant  rates,  thus  asserting  an  autocratic  power  in 
finance  as  he  already  exercised  it  in  trade,  George  Brown 
was  given  a  way  out.  Remittances  to  Sydney  could  only 
be  made  at  reasonable  rates  if  Weber  were  willing ;  but 
though  he  declined  to  make  an  exception  for  George  Brown 
in  this  instance  he  annulled  a  definite  exaction  by  giving 
him  a  subscription  for  the  mission,  and  by  carrying  mis- 
sionary effects  in  his  vessels  for  nothing.  This  more  than 
compensated  for  the  impost.  But  the  point  is  made  to 
show  the  basis  of  Dr.  Brown's  increasing  influence  with  the 
German  authorities.  He  was  given  endless  opportunities 
of  reading  the  German  mind  and  of  studying  Germany's 
ways  ;  so  that  when  he  went  to  New  Britain  and  New 


AN  OUTLINE  41 

Ireland  he  and  Theodor  Weber  had  not  much  to  learn  of  one 
another.  In  1872,  the  latter  had  returned  to  Hamburg ; 
for  the  Godeffroy  firm  was  likely  to  go  to  pieces  as  a  conse- 
quence of  the  Franco-Prussian  War.  But  he  returned  in 
1875,  when  George  Brown  had  already  entered  his  new 
sphere  of  work.  In  New  Britain  they  met  again,  Weber 
being  sent  to  spy  out  the  land  and  gauge  the  strength  of 
native  opposition.  Here  the  missionary  told  him  quite 
frankly  that  he  would  not  promise  to  interpret  for  the 
German  Consul.  He  said  he  would  warn  the  natives  and 
inform  Great  Britain  if  anything  that  had  passed  through 
his  hands  were  likely  to  prove  detrimental  to  the  interests 
of  either.  Thus  the  two  men,  after  arriving  almost  together 
in  Samoa  more  than  fifteen  years  before,  now  followed  one 
another.  It  is  an  interesting  story,  because  no  one  was 
more  concerned  than  George  Brown  to  give  the  natives  fair 
play  and  no  one  knew  better  than  he  the  German  way  with 
them.  They  were  practically  robbed  of  their  lands  in 
Samoa,  notwithstanding  that  the  titles  given  to  the  Germans 
were  afterwards  confirmed ;  and  they  were  actually 
deceived  and  robbed  of  strategic  areas  in  the  groups,  pre- 
pared by  this  German  raid  for  annexation.  It  was  know- 
ledge which  caused  the  missionary  to  write  with  sharpened 
pen  when  he  appealed  through  the  Sydney  Morning  Herald 
in  the  early  eighties  for  prompt  action  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain.  His  articles  stirred  the  Foreign  Offices  both  in 
London  and  Berlin  ;  and  his  nom  de  plume,  "  Carpe  Diem," 
was  not  withdrawn  nor  was  his  identity  disclosed.  Weber  and 
George  Brown  respected  each  other  and  never  quarrelled ; 
but  one  was  an  unscrupulous  German,  who  looked  upon 
natives  as  chattels  and  who  hated  mission  work,  while  the 
other  was  a  patriotic  Briton,  who  placed  the  interests  of  the 


42  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

natives  first,  and  was  never  afraid  that  Great  Britain  at 
heart  would  misunderstand  him. 

Sterndale's  report  makes  it  quite  plain  that  before  1870 
Godeffroy  &  Son  had  laid  down  a  great  programme,  and 
that  the  possession  of  some  thousands  of  acres  of  the  best 
land  in  Samoa  was  but  a  preliminary  to  the  proposed  influx 
of  many  Germans  as  settlers.  It  was  to  be  a  military 
settlement,  and  the  Samoan  group  was  to  dominate  the 
Pacific  as  from  a  fortified  centre.  But  the  Franco-Prussian 
War  knocked  the  bottom  out  of  the  scheme  and  brought 
down  the  firm  of  Godeffroy  &  Son  with  a  great  crash.  It 
failed  for  a  million  sterling.  Yet  by  1879  there  was  a 
resurrection  in  the  "  Long  Handle  Firm,"  and  Louis  Becke 

rsays  that  the  German  Government  gave  a  million  marks  to 
help  the  new  company  along.  Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  it 
is  clear  that  Germany  was  substantially  behind  Theodor 
Weber  in  the  new  order.  But  something  had  happened 
meanwhile  which  made  a  considerable  difference  in  the  value 
of  Samoa.  Since  the  firm  of  Godeffroy  &  Son  spread  itself 
in  the  group  and  threw  its  net  over  the  Pacific,  the  United 
States  had  been  watching  developments.  After  1871,  with 
a  united  Germany  in  view,  there  was  much  to  think  about ; 
and  in  1872  an  arrangement  was  made  by  an  American 
naval  commander  with  the  Samoan  Chief  at  Tutuila  for 
the  cession  to  America  of  Pago  Pago  as  a  naval  station. 
This  was  not  formally  settled  till  the  end  of  the  decade,  but 
nothing  was  allowed  to  disturb  the  understanding.  The 
United  States  had  thus  obtained  the  one  good  harbour  in 
the  group  before  Weber  had  returned  from  Germany  on 
his  mission  of  reconstruction,  and,  in  the  end,  this  meant 
a  good  deal.  Meanwhile,  however,  much  land  had  come 
into  German  possession — upwards  of  150,000  acres — and 


AN  OUTLINE  43 

plantation  work  had  been  pushed  ahead.  When  the 
Sterndale  report  appeared  in  1874  native  labour  had  been 
continuously  recruited  from  the  Gilbert  and  Solomon 
Islands,  and  by  the  time  that  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 
wrote  "  A  Footnote  to  History  "  there  were  several  hundred 
imported  men  and  women  at  work  in  Samoa.  How  were 
these  treated  ?  Stevenson  shall  indicate  the  truth  a  little 
later  on  ;  but  Sterndale  has  nothing  but  good  to  say  of  the 
business.  He  seemed  to  think  that  it  was  enough  to  feed 
the  natives  well,  and  flog  them  "  under  consular  over- 
sight," in  order  to  consider  them  very  benevolently  handled, 
seeing  they  were  among  the  most  brutal  and  degraded  of 
the  Pacific  tribes.  This  is  a  matter  which  must  be  dealt 
with  by  itself,  for  through  it  we  get  to  the  root  of  the  differ- 
ence between  the  British  and  the  German  attitude  to  the 
native  races  everywhere.  Under  the  new  German  Company 
the  plantations  were  extended  and  soon  more  natives  were 
employed  ;  but  the  Samoans  looked  down  upon  it  all  and 
so  gave  Theodor  Weber  and  his  successors  a  further  hold 
upon  them  through  the  robbing  of  the  plantations.  Steven- 
son puts  the  position  very  well :  "  You  ride  in  a  German 
plantation  and  see  no  bush,  no  soul  stirring  ;  only  acres  of 
empty  sward,  miles  of  cocoa-nut  alley  :  a  desert  of  food.  In 
the  eyes  of  the  Samoan  the  place  has  the  attraction  of  a 
park  for  the  holiday  schoolboy,  of  a  granary  for  mice.  We 
must  add  the  yet  more  lively  allurement  of  a  haunted  house, 
for  over  these  empty  and  silent  miles  there  broods  the  fear 
of  the  negrito  cannibal,"  escaped  from  the  German  com- 
pounds, after  being  carried  in  the  Company's  recruiting 
vessels  from  far  away. 

It  must  be  explained  that  this  had  not  been  brought  to 
perfection    by    Samoan    labour.      For    the    Samoan,    as 


44  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

Stevenson  continues,  sees  "  something  barbaric,  unhand- 
some, and  absurd  in  the  idea  of  thus  growing  food  only  to 
send  it  from  the  land  and  sell  it.  A  man  at  home  who 
should  turn  all  Yorkshire  into  one  wheatfield,  and  annually 
burn  his  harvest  on  the  altar  of  Mumbo-Jumbo,  might 
impress  ourselves  not  much  otherwise."  *  Naturally 
there  were  thefts.  The  Samoans  lived  a  communal  life, 
and  could  not  understand  that  they  did  wrong  to  take  food 
when  hungry  ;  for  their  wars  involved  privation,  since  the 
men  were  unable  to  plant  and  grow  food  while  preparing 
to  fight.  But  this  again  meant  punishment  at  the  hands  of 
the  German  firm,  and  fines  accumulating  if  unpaid. 
Stevenson  concludes  his  paragraph  :  "  And  the  firm  which 
does  these  things  is  quite  extraneous,  a  wen  that  might  be 
excised  to-morrow  without  loss  but  to  itself;  few  natives 
drawing  so  much  as  day's  wages ;  and  the  rest  beholding 
in  it  only  the  occupier  of  their  acres.  The  nearest  villages 
have  suffered  most ;  they  see  over  the  hedge  the  lands  of 
their  ancestors  waving  with  useless  cocoa-palms ;  for  the 
sales  were  often  questionable,  and  must  still  more  often 
appear  so  to  regretful  natives,  spinning  and  improving 
yarns  about  the  evening  lamp.  At  the  worst,  then,  to  help 
oneself  from  the  plantation  will  seem  to  a  Samoan  very  like 
orchard-breaking  to  the  British  schoolboy  ;  at  the  best,  it 
will  be  thought  a  gallant  Robin-Hoodish  readjustment  of 
a  public  wrong."  f  This  raises  the  whole  question  of 
Germany's  use  of  trade  to  aggrandise  herself,  for  native 
lands  were  sold  to  forward  native  wars  in  the  purchase  of 
arms  and  ammunition  ;  and  so  by  their  very  quarrels  the 
Samoans  gave  the  German  firm  a  larger  grasp  of  the  group. 

*  "  A  Footnote  to  History,"  p.  40. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  41. 


AN   OUTLINE  45 

The  political  history  of  Samoa  begins  here.  When 
Theodor  Weber  took  Augustus  Unselm's  place  as  manager 
for  Godeffroy  &  Son  he  found  a  whole  ocean  before  him, 
with  such  opportunities  for  exercising  power  as  come  to  few 
men  in  history.  He  was  half  the  world  away  from  Europe, 
news  travelled  slowly  or  not  at  all,  and  the  most  abomin- 
able things  could  be  done  at  leisure  and  with  little  risk. 
Every  German  trader  in  the  Pacific  became  another  hand 
to  Theodor  Weber,  reaching  out  for  power,  and  we  know 
how  rivals  were  crushed  ;  but  in  Samoa  the  opportunity 
came  to  make  trade  exceedingly  profitable  by  stimulating 
native  quarrels.  Thus  it  was  that  lands  which  really 
belonged  to  the  community  were  handed  over  by  individual 
Samoans  to  the  firm  for  rifles  and  the  like.  Not  Germans 
alone  but  other  Europeans  shared  in  the  spoil.  The  whole 
business  was  bad  ;  and  in  the  end  native  wars  led  to  the 
division  of  the  group,  with  Germany  in  possession  of  every- 
thing except  the  small  islands  already  pre-empted  in  effect 
by  the  United  States. 

It  must  not  be  assumed  that  the  Samoans  would  not  have 
quarrelled  but  for  German  incitement.  District  feuds, 
developing  into  war,  give  an  insight  into  the  general  in- 
stability of  Samoan  affairs  at  the  time,  with  unscrupulous 
men  providing  guns  and  ammunition,  and  Godeffroy  & 
Son,  through  the  firm's  manager,  fishing  all  the  time  in 
troubled  waters.  It  would  be  unfair  in  this  connection  also 
to  deny  the  worth  of  a  great  deal  of  German  enterprise,  and 
equally  unfair  to  forget  that  Britons  and  Americans  were 
engaged  in  spoiling  the  Samoans  at  one  period  and  another. 
But  after  the  German  Empire  came  into  being  in  1871, 
when  George  Brown  was  still  in  Samoa,  a  new  spirit  seemed 
to  inspire  the  German  trader.  Colonial  aspirations  and 


46  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

ambitions  were  born,  and  societies  were  formed  to  give 
them  expression  and  to  bring  them  to  fruitful  bearing  ; 
Hamburg  became  a  centre  for  aggression.  And,  as  his 
term  drew  to  a  close  in  1874,  the  great  missionary  gradually 
realised  the  danger  of  the  whole  business.  Now  it  only 
needs  a  glance  at  Samoan  history,  just  before  and  during 
this  transition  stage,  to  realise  all  that  was  involved. 
Samoan  wars,  up  to  the  advent  of  John  Williams,  in  1 830, 
had  been  many  and  bloody,  and  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Stair  quotes 
the  great  pioneer  missionary  as  saying  :  "  The  wars  of  the 
Samoans  were  frequent  and  destructive  .  .  .  The  island 
of  Apolima  was  the  natural  fortress  of  the  people  of  Manono, 
a  small  but  important  island.  These  people,  although 
ignorant  of  the  art  of  writing,  kept  an  account  of  the  num- 
ber of  battles  they  had  fought  by  depositing  a  stone  of  a 
peculiar  form  in  a  basket,  which  was  very  carefully  fastened 
to  the  ridge  of  a  sacred  house  appropriated  to  that  purpose. 
This  basket  was  let  down,  and  the  stones  were  counted 
while  I  was  there,  and  the  number  was  one  hundred  and 
twenty-seven,  showing  that  they  had  fought  that  number 
of  battles.''  *  As  Mr.  Stair  points  out,  this  was  the  tally 
for  only  one  portion  of  the  Samoan  group,  and  a  stone  was 
not  put  in  after  each  battle  but  at  the  end  of  a  campaign- 
larger  or  smaller  according  to  its  duration.  How  these 
conflicts  originated  may  be  seen  from  what  has  happened 
since  ;  and  in  passing  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  one  wrar, 
at  the  time  when  John  Williams  first  saw  Samoa,  he  was 
witness  to  the  most  awful  sights  on  the  island  of  Upolu. 
This  island  is  divided  into  three  districts — Aana,  Tuama- 
sanga,  and  Atua  ;  and  in  that  war  Aana  was  being  cruelly 
punished.  Manono,  two-thirds  of  the  island  of  Upolu,  and 
*  "  Old  Samoa,"  by  Kev.  J.  B.  Stair,  p.  243. 


AN   OUTLINE  47 

part  of  Savaii,  had  been  arrayed  against  Aana  ;  and  after 
the  final  victory  had  been  won,  the  captives — women, 
children  and  everybody  alive  and  captured — were  driven 
into  immense  furnaces  and  burnt  alive.  John  Williams  saw 
and  recorded  the  terrible  holocaust. 

When  German  traders  entered  Apia,  and  white  men  later 
on  began  through  certain  chiefs  to  make  and  unmake 
Kings  of  Samoa,  the  insult  to  the  chiefs  of  other  districts 
was  great  indeed.  Apia  was  situated  in  the  district  of 
Tuamasanga,  and  "  who  ever  heard  of  headship  arising  in 
that  part  of  Samoa  ?  "  The  districts  of  Aana  and  Atua 
were  specially  aroused  by  this  indignity ;  and  when  the 
so-called  "  Laws  of  Samoa  "  were  promulgated  at  Apia 
by  irresponsible  chiefs,  the  insult  became  unbearable.  For 
the  essence  of  u  chiefly  "  rule  in  Samoa  has  always  been  the 
independence  of  the  several  parts.  A  king,  Malietoa,  for 
instance,  could  be  chosen,  but  it  was  always  a  matter  of 
choice,  and  of  free  speech.  So,  in  the  transition  stage,  the 
white  man  simply  stirred  with  a  sword  the  devil's  broth  in 
the  Samoan  cauldron  ;  and  Apia  became  a  German  strong- 
hold, only  to  the  continued  humiliation  of  a  people  intensely 
sensitive,  and  equally  unable  to  combine  against  a  common 
enemy.  George  Brown,  in  his  nearly  fifteen  years  among 
them,  watched  the  Samoans  with  increasing  understanding 
and  with  growing  sympathy.  He  realised  their  charm  and 
loved  them  all  the  time  with  deepening  affection.  But  he 
could  see  that  unless  some  uniting  hand  was  laid  upon  them 
they  would  be  like  Reuben — excelling  in  strength  but 
unstable  as  water. 

Samoans  were  always  quarrelling  and  fighting,  but  there 
had  been  periods  of  quiet,  when  one  great  chief  as  king 
exercised  authority  over  them.  Nevertheless  the  ease  with 


48  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

which  friction  could  be  caused  made  it  possible  to  force  the 
hands  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  ;  for  Germany 
was  as  determined  to  have  Samoa,  from  the  time  that  Weber 
proved  the  Pacific  to  be  the  most  profitable  field  of  enter- 
prise in  the  world,  as  the  two  other  Powers  were  earnest  to 
prevent  it.  Stevenson  wrote  "  A  Footnote  to  History  " 
because,  like  George  Brown,  he  put  the  natives  first.  He 
placed  himself  beside  the  Samoans  in  their  desire  that 
Mataafa,  the  chief  of  their  own  choosing,  should  reign 
over  them.  Two  other  chiefs,  Malietoa  and  Tamasese, 
had  been  alternately  supported  and  deported  by  Germany  ; 
but  Mataafa  was  clearly  able  to  command  the  confidence  of 
the  Samoan  people,  or  a  substantial  majority  of  them. 
Therefore,  in  1892  Stevenson  implored  German  officials, 
in  the  closing  words  of  his  book,  to  be  reasonable — to  give 
Mataafa  fair  play.  But  this  was  never  the  German  game, 
and  nothing  suited  Germany  better  than  to  see  chief  after 
chief  fail  when  given  European  support.  It  brought  the 
end  so  much  nearer.  Mataafa  might  have  proved  a  leader 
indeed  and  so  welded  the  Samoans  into  a  nation.  Steven- 
son dreamed  of  something  of  the  sort,  or  at  any  rate  he 
pleaded  that  Mataafa  should  be  tried  in  the  kingship.  In 
1893  there  was  a  collision  again,  which  proved  a  sad  busi- 
ness for  the  man  who  loved  the  Samoans  so  well.  He  is 
credited  with  having  written  the  article  which  appeared  in 
the  Samoa  Weekly  Times,  of  July  15th,  of  that  year.  The 
"  Cyclopedia  of  Samoa  "  gives  the  full  text  of  it,  but  the 
following  extract  will  show  how  Stevenson's  spirit  throbbed 
through  its  lines.  Here  were  two  great  Samoan  chiefs  at 
war,  after  agreeing  to  unite — Malietoa  and  Mataafa,  first 
in  one  another's  arms,  after  the  former's  return  from  an 
exile  forced  by  Germany,  and  then  at  one  another's  throats 


AN  OUTLINE  49 

— and  the  whole  outlook  was  dark.  Stevenson  wrote : 
"  We  have  here  a  king  publicly  and  solemnly  renouncing 
his  dignity  and  title  in  favour  of  another,  and  that  other 
elected  freely  and  spontaneously  to  the  vacant  throne  ;  we 
have  the  three  greatest  states  of  modern  times  recognising 
in  one  breath  the  free  right  of  the  people  to  elect  their  own 
chief  or  king,  and  in  the  next  declaring  that  their  nominees 
must  be  chosen.  Nay,  more,  when  that  nominee  volun- 
tarily resigns,  they  compel  the  people  to  annul  the  election 
of  his  successor,  command  them  to  restore  the  former 
occupant  of  the  position  to  the  place  he  had  relinquished 
and  force  the  unwilling  king  to  resume  once  more  the  burden 
which,  but  two  months  before,  he  laid  down  with  a  feeling 
of  relief  and  satisfaction." 

The  Samoa  Weekly  Times  is  long  dead,  but  Stevenson's 
words  remain.  Germany's  hand  was  pulling  the  strings ; 
and  Germany,  while  appearing  to  desire  fair  play  for  the 
Samoans,  was  always  making  it  impossible.  It  is  true  that 
in  this  indictment  Stevenson  arraigned  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  also,  but  at  least  they  could  plead  an 
honest  intention ;  they  did  most  anxiously  wish  that  the 
Samoans  should  be  given  every  chance  to  work  out  their  own 
salvation.  But  ever  and  anon  Germany  would  protest  and 
palaver.  One  cannot  read  the  history  of  Samoa  up  to  the 
final  division  in  1900  without  feeling  that  from  the  days  of 
Theodor  Weber  to  the  advent  of  Dr.  Solf  it  was  one  long 
tragedy,  with  Germany  as  the  mischief-maker  of  the  piece. 
The  Consuls  of  the  three  Powers  were  always  in  evidence, 
and  one  plan  after  another  was  tried,  closing  with  a  species 
of  tripartite  government.  But  the  end  was  ever  the  same. 
No  real  agreement  could  be  reached  because  Germany  was 
determined  that  the  natives  should  count  for  nothing.  As 

S.Q.  IB 


50  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

far  back  as  1848,  according  to  Trood,  Great  Britain  had 
appointed  her  Consul  in  the  person  of  Mr.  William  T. 
Pritchard.  The  Thurston  report  gives  the  year  as  1843 
without  further  particulars.  Eventually  also  Britain  had 
more  than  one  offer  of  control — genuine  offers  from  the 
Samoan  chiefs.  But  she  would  not  accept  the  responsi- 
bility. The  United  States,  too,  had  appointed  her  first 
official  representative  in  1853,  before  German  traders 
appeared  on  the  scene ;  and  when  Britain  failed  in  the 
seventies  America  was  turned  to  for  protection,  as  German 
aims  began  to  be  understood.  Never  did  Germany  receive 
an  honest  request  from  the  Samoans,  though  she  could  on 
occasion  engineer  an  appearance  of  the  thing  from  tools 
specially  prepared  for  the  purpose.  The  natives  had 
learned  to  know  her  too  well,  and  that  notwithstanding 
the  eulogies  of  the  Sterndale  report,  when  dealing  with 
Weber's  wonderful  ways  with  imported  labour.  German 
traders  had  to  be  civil  to  natives  in  distant  groups  if  they 
were  to  do  business,  but  Samoans  never  misunderstood  the 
German  glance  of  arrogance  or  the  German  demand  for 
their  islands. 

Thus  it  was  that  Samoan  instability  and  strife  served  the 
German  trader's  purpose  in  the  first  place,  and  the  German 
Government's  policy  in  the  final  settlement.  War  after 
war  had  marked  the  end  of  each  decade  from  1869  to  1899  ; 
and,  while  this  was  an  expression  of  the  Samoan  character, 
it  was  unfairly  exploited  to  the  undoing  of  Samoa.  Many 
lives  were  sacrificed,  and  opportunities  for  beginning  a 
peaceful  control  were  missed,  because  Germany  was  deter- 
mined that  there  should  be  no  peace.  Elsewhere  in  the 
Pacific  Germany  had  her  way.  If  the  natives  rebelled  or 
were  restive  the  German  gunboat  and  the  German  whip 


AN  OUTLINE  51 

made  short  work  of  them  ;  and,  as  in  the  Carolines,  reprisals 
for  native  attacks  were  as  brutal  and  tragic  as  in  South- 
West  Africa.  This  is  the  story  of  Germany's  progress  in 
the  Pacific,  and  it  represents  her  spirit  from  beginning  to 
end. 


12 


CHAPTER  VI 

GERMAN   ARROGANCE 

Germany  took  what  she  wanted.  Story  of  the  Samoan 
club.  Naboth's  vineyard  again.  Dr.  Brown's  intervention. 
Stevenson's  policy  for  Samoa.  Others  than  Germans  in- 
volved. Some  reason  in  German  claims.  But  Germany 
must  never  be  criticised.  No  talking  about  the  German  slave 
trade  !  Mr.  Walter  Coote's  book.  Stevenson's  biographers 
and  Stevenson's  interference.  Germany  still  claimed  free- 
dom from  criticism. 

IF  Germany  wanted  an  island  group  in  the  Pacific,  and 
nobody  but  Great  Britain  stood  in  the  way,  she  took  it  when 
she  grew  in  power — as  witness  the  annexations  of  1884. 
Sometimes,  however,  she  desired  nothing  more  than  a 
chief's  club.  This  was  the  case  on  one  occasion,  in  the 
years  following  1900,  after  possession  of  Samoa  was 
obtained.  It  is  intended  here  to  show  more  particularly 
the  German  spirit  in  Pacific  enterprise,  as  a  preliminary  to 
the  detailed  discussion  of  German  ways  with  the  natives  ; 
and  Samoa  is  again  given  due  place  because  in  the  Samoan 
group  after  1900  Germany  became  a  model  of  all  the  virtues. 

Now,  in  Dr.  George  Brown's  museum  is  a  Samoan  club 
of  special  value  and  carrying  an  interesting  record.  If 
one  could  only  trace  its  movements  it  represents,  indeed,  a 
chapter  in  the  history  of  Germany's  relations  with  Samoa, 
until  it  was  taken  away  by  a  missionary  who  had  refused 
to  part  with  it  under  German  blandishments,  and  who  at 
last  was  in  danger  of  deportation  for  defying  German 
threats.  The  club  is  an  old  one  and  exceedingly  valuable. 


GERMAN  ARROGANCE  53 

It  was  so  much  wanted  by  Germany  because  it  is  probably 
unique  of  its  kind  ;  and  it  was  no  doubt  intended  for 
Berlin,  and  a  royal  welcome.  This,  at  any  rate,  is  the 
story  as  Dr.  Brown  gave  it  to  the  present  writer  on  one 
occasion  when  the  aged  missionary  had  made  the  club  the 
text  for  a  warm  denunciation  of  German  ways  in  the 
Pacific.  Only  his  intervention  on  behalf  of  his  brother 
missionary,  during  a  special  visit  to  Samoa  for  the  purpose, 
saved  the  former  from  exile  and  rescued  the  club,  as  it 
happened,  for  his  own  collection  later  on — quite  beyond 
expectation  or  desire. 

How  many  men  this  particular  club  had  killed  must 
remain  a  matter  of  conjecture ;  but  its  age  takes  it  far 
enough  back  to  warrant  the  assumption  that  it  was  carried 
and  used  through  most  of  Samoa's  sternest  fighting.  Men, 
women,  and  children  have,  no  doubt,  fallen  before  its 
whirl  and  crash  ;  and  as  a  means  of  discipline  in  the  hands 
of  an  angry  chief  it  must  many  a  time  have  taken  deadly 
toll.  Its  value,  however,  consists  in  its  original  ownership 
as  well  as  in  its  shape  and  finish.  A  chief's  club,  it  carries 
its  sign  manual  upon  one  side  in  the  shape  of  a  fish,  the 
Samoan  word  for  which  (I'a)  became  the  family  name.  It 
is  carved  from  a  heavy  piece  of  Samoan  wood,  widening 
gradually  from  the  handle  down  to  a  double  blade,  but  never 
losing  its  club  form ;  and  both  sides  are  covered  with 
special  figuring,  embracing  at  last  the  chiefs  name  in  the 
fish  engraved  near  the  striking  end.  The  missionary  into 
whose  possession  it  had  come  received  it  as  a  token  of  regard 
as  well  as  a  warrant  of  relinquishment  as  a  weapon  of  war. 
It  was  the  true  acknowledgment  of  surrender,  when  Fiji  was 
ceded  by  its  chiefs  to  the  British  Government,  that 
Thakombau  should  send  his  own  club  to  Queen  Victoria. 


54  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

No  club  surely  carried  so  much  horror  upon  it  as  Thakom- 
bau's,  for  no  chief  ever  made  his  weapon  drink  more  deeply 
of  human  blood  than  he  through  a  long  life.     But  many 
Samoan  clubs  had  records  of  slaughter  which  marked  them 
as  notable,  and  the  club  of  I'a  was  so  saturated  with  grue- 
some horror  that  Germany  regarded  it  as  hers  by  right  or 
might.     Naboth's  vineyard  is  the  illustration  for  things 
unobtainable,  when  desired  by  people  in  high  places,  and 
in  this  case  it  represented  the  one  thing  in  the  world,  to  be 
obtained  by  ordinary  means,  if  possible,  otherwise  by  force 
or  fraud.     The  missionary  who  stood  for  Naboth  on  this 
occasion  at  last  found  the  coils  closing  round  him.     A 
German  collector  had  offered  to  give  him  his  own  price,  but 
the  club  had  no  price  to  the  man  who  looked  upon  it  as  a 
milestone  in  mission  history,  and  not  as  a  curio  in  the 
market-place.     Then,  to  his  surprise,  he  found  that  it  was 
not  to  be  regarded  as  a  curio,  but  as  Germany's  prize  and 
badge  of  sovereignty  against  Samoan  chiefs.     And  Germany 
was  in  possession  of  Samoa.     The  missionary  was  at  last 
threatened,  on  some  flimsy  ground,  with  deportation,  while 
the  club  clearly  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  pass  out  with  him. 
In  his  extremity  he  appealed  to  Dr.  Brown,  who  was  then 
General  Secretary  of  Missions  for  his  church,  and  had  always 
been  a  man  of  considerable  influence  with  the  German 
authorities.     Dr.    Brown    went    to    Samoa    himself    and 
reasoned    with    the    Governor    until    the    difficulty   was 
removed.     The  missionary  kept  his  club  till  he  died  ;  and 
after  his  death  his  widow  asked  Dr.  Brown  to  accept  it,  with 
four  others,  as  a  token  of  gratitude.     Dr.  Brown  wanted 
to  pay  for  it,  but  in  such  a  transaction  no  money  could 
pass,  and  the  club  takes  its  place  in  a  great  collection,  with 
many  other  trophies  that  have  been  given  to  the  man  so 


GERMAN  ARROGANCE  55 

widely  known  and  loved  by  white  men  and  natives  through- 
out the  Pacific. 

Germany  could  not  afford  to  let  Dr.  Brown  go  away  from 
Samoa  with  this  story  to  tell,  in  the  terms  of  its  first 
setting.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  had  made  pother  enough 
for  one  generation,  and  his  spirit  was  still  abroad  in  the  land. 
Indeed,  his  step-daughter  has  said  that  he  was  to  be 
credited  with  outlining  a  policy  "  that  has  since  been 
adopted  with  success  by  the  Germans  in  their  occupation 
of  Upolu  and  Savaii."  *  But  this  had  better  be  left  to 
another  chapter,  for  Dr.  Brown  comes  in  again  as  Steven- 
son's adviser  ;  and  the  position  must  be  developed  because 
it  serves  to  explain  Germany's  attitude  towards  the  natives 
in  Samoa  later  on — so  different  from  her  way  with  them 
in  the  Bismarck  Archipelago,  the  Carolines,  and  the 
Marshalls.  And,  lest  the  heading  of  this  chapter  should 
be  misunderstood,  a  reminder  is  due  at  the  outset.  It  is 
not  suggested  that  Germany,  as  represented  by  her  traders 
and  officials  from  1854  till  1914,  was  alone  in  blustering 
manners  and  high-handed  dealings  with  people  brown  and 
white.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  in  his  "  Footnote  to 
History,"  writes  of  the  Godeffroy  domination  :  "  The  firm, 
with  the  indomitable  Weber  at  its  head  and  the  Consulate 
at  its  back — there  has  been  the  chief  enemy  of  Samoa.  No 
English  reader  can  fail  to  be  reminded  of  John  Company  ; 
and  if  the  Germans  appear  to  have  been  not  so  successful, 
we  can  only  wonder  that  our  own  blunders  and  brutalities 
were  less  severely  punished.  Even  in  the  field  of  Samoa, 
though  German  faults  and  aggressions  make  up  the  burthen 
of  my  story,  they  have  been  nowise  alone.  Three  nations 
were  engaged  in  this  infinitesimal  affray,  and  not  one 
*  "  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,"  by  Isobel  Strong,  p.  81. 


56  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

appears  with  credit.  They  figure  but  as  the  three  ruffians 
of  the  elder  playwrights.  The  States  have  the  cleanest 
hands,  and  even  theirs  are  not  immaculate."  *  This  was 
written  two  years  or  so  before  Stevenson  died,  and  eight 
years  before  Germany,  by  the  Treaty  of  1900,  was  given 
possession  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Samoan  group. 
Practically  forty  years  of  German  trading  and  scheming 
had  passed  ;  and  nearly  a  decade  before  "  A  Footnote  to 
History  "  was  published  the  German  flag  was  ready  to  be 
hoisted  over  New  Guinea,  the  Bismarck  Archipelago,  and 
the  Solomon  Islands.  Stevenson,  therefore,  appeared  upon 
the  scene  when  possession  in  the  Pacific  was  culminating  for 
Germany  in  substantial  domination  through  a  vast  area 
of  the  ocean.  But  Stevenson  recognised  that  there  was  a 
measure  of  reason  in  the  German  claims.  He  had  written, 
before  drawing  the  above  conclusion :  "  The  German 
Consulate  has  shown  itself  very  apt  to  play  the  game  of 
the  German  firm.  That  game,  we  may  say,  was  twofold, — 
the  first  part  even  praiseworthy,  the  second  at  least  natural. 
On  the  one  part,  they  desired  an  efficient  native  administra- 
tion, to  open  up  the  country  and  punish  crime ;  they  wished, 
on  the  other,  to  extend  their  own  provinces  and  to  curtail 
the  dealings  of  their  rivals.  In  the  first,  they  had  the 
jealous  and  diffident  sympathy  of  all  whites  ;  in  the  second, 
they  had  all  whites  banded  together  against  them  for  their 
lives  and  livelihoods.  It  was  thus  a  game  of  4  Beggar  my 
Neighbour  '  between  a  large  merchant  and  some  small  ones. 
Had  it  so  remained,  it  would  still  have  been  a  cut-throat 
quarrel.  But  when  the  Consulate  appeared  to  be  con- 
cerned, when  the  warships  of  the  German  Empire  were 
thought  to  fetch  and  carry  for  the  firm,  the  rage  of  the 
*  "  A  Footnote  to  History,"  by  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  p.  38. 


GERMAN  ARROGANCE  67 

independent  traders  broke  beyond  restraint.  And,  largely 
from  the  national  touchiness  and  the  intemperate  speech  of 
German  clerks,  this  scramble  among  dollar  hunters  assumed 
the  appearance  of  an  inter-racial  war."  * 

This  brings  in  German  arrogance  as  a  factor,  and  makes 
any  writing  of  the  history  of  the  Pacific  at  this  stage  very 
difficult.  What  Stevenson  has  called  "  the  national 
touchiness  "  explains  a  great  deal,  but  not  everything.  He 
himself  recognised  the  "  something  more  "  in  a  German 
attitude  which  resented  any  criticism  of  German  ways  and 
actions,  though  he  still  calls  it  "  touchiness  "  in  the  follow- 
ing criticism  :  "  In  the  Germans  alone,  no  trace  of  humour 
is  to  be  observed,  and  their  solemnity  is  accompanied  by  a 
touchiness  often  beyond  belief.  Patriotism  flies  in  arms 
about  a  hen  ;  and  if  you  comment  upon  the  colour  of  a 
Dutch  umbrella,  you  have  cast  a  stone  at  the  German 
Emperor."  f  The  typical  instance  is  the  German  rebuke 
to  one  who  tried  to  complain  of  the  vermin  on  a  mail 
cutter.  It  was  a  German  ship,  let  there  be  no  criticism  ! 
Now  this  national  touchiness  had  developed  marvellously 
since  the  Franco-Prussian  War  and  the  birth  of  the  German 
Empire.  No  one  must  speak  disrespectfully  of  Theodor 
Weber  or  the  Godeffroys  before  1871,  but  after — the  world 
was  ordered  to  respectful  silence,  except  as  it  praised  Ger- 
many. It  will  be  understood,  therefore,  that  such  a  thing 
as  the  black  labour  traffic  has  been  ventilated,  denounced, 
and  abandoned  along  with  all  the  stones  thrown  at  British 
dependencies  by  British  hands.  The  German  labour  traffic 
from  the  commencement  must  have  had  some  heart- 

*  "  A  Footnote  to  History,"  by  Robert  Louis  Stevenson, 
pp.  57 — 58. 

f  Ibid.,  pp.  33—34. 


58  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

breaking  experiences  in  it  for  innumerable  natives,  and  much 
heart-searching  for  white  men  with  consciences  who  were 
brought  into  direct  relations  with  it ;  but  as  far  as  history 
goes  it  has  been  largely  a  matter  of  "  Hush  !  hush  !  " 
There  could  be  no  comment  on  German  cruelty,  lust,  and 
rapine  !  It  was  a  German  business  and  therefore  sacro- 
sanct !  Take,  for  instance,  a  small  book  published  in  1883, 
written  by  Walter  Coote,  F.R.G.S.,  entitled  "  The  Western 
Pacific,  being  a  description  of  the  groups  of  islands  to  the 
north  and  east  of  the  Australian  Continent."  Mr.  Coote 
begins  his  preface  by  explaining  that  "  the  attitude  of  the 
Australian  Colonies  with  reference  to  the  island-continent 
of  New  Guinea  and  the  groups  of  islands  in  the  Western 
Pacific  has  taken  England  altogether  by  surprise."  Then 
it  is  suggested  that  the  vast  majority  of  English  people  find 
themselves  entirely  in  the  dark  about  the  islands  which  it 
is  proposed  to  annex.  But  what  had  happened  ?  Sir 
Thomas  Mcllwraith,  the  author  notes,  had  attempted  to 
annex  New  Guinea,  an  action  repudiated  by  the  British 
Government.  Out  of  this  repudiation  had  arisen  an 
agitation  which  led  to  the  calling  of  a  Convention  in  Sydney, 
and  the  Australian  Colonies  in  conference,  through  their 
political  leaders,  had  passed  certain  resolutions  about  the 
islands  and  island  groups  of  the  Pacific  not  far  away.  Who, 
then,  was  threatening  Australia  ?  It  does  not  appear  from 
Mr.  Walter  Coote's  book  that  Germany  as  a  Power  was 
threatening  or  even  troubling  anybody,  although  German 
machinations  were  at  the  root  of  Sir  Thomas  Mcllwraith's 
determination  to  hold  the  New  Guinea  approaches  for  the 
Empire.  But  more  significant  than  anything  is  the  con- 
cluding chapter  which  deals  with  "  Labour  and  Trade  in 
the  Western  Pacific."  A  sentence  in  it  runs  :  "  The  labour 


GERMAN  ARROGANCE  59 

trade  is  in  a  bad  state  everywhere,  whether  under  French 
flag  or  English,  and  what  is  said  here  on  the  subject  applies 
equally  to  all  the  colonies  to  which  natives  are  taken." 
Samoa  was  not  then  a  German  possession. 

Germany  did  not  annex  New  Guinea  and  the  rest  of  the 
islands  thereabout  until  1884,  and  consequently  had  no 
plantations  in  that  part  of  the  Pacific  in  need  of  labour. 
But  to  Samoa  many  natives  had  been  brought,  since  the 
house  of  Godeffroy  started  developing  the  resources  of  its 
landed  property,  acquired  so  cheaply  at  the  expense  of  the 
Samoans.  Not  a  word  appears  in  "  The  Western  Pacific  " 
about  this ;  but  the  author  gives  several  pages  of  details 
about  outrages  and  murders  by  the  natives  upon  white 
men  and  vice  versa — all  the  outcome  of  the  labour  traffic. 
It  would  be  easy  for  Germany  to  draw  a  terrible  indict- 
ment against  Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies  in  the  Pacific 
from  the  attacks  of  English  writers  and  publicists,  and  it 
would  be  difficult  for  critics  of  Germany  to  retaliate  on 
similar  grounds,  if  voluminous  documents  were  essential. 
But  quite  enough  happened  before  1914  to  make  the  latter 
task  possible  to-day ;  and  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's 
"  Footnote  to  History  "  comes  like  a  flash  of  lightning  at  a 
critical  moment.  Unfortunately  it  was  not  regarded  when 
published  as  illumination  but  rather  as  tending  to  create 
darkness  and  discord,  in  this  respect,  perhaps,  making  the 
lightning  flash  as  an  illustration  more  fitting  than  at  first 
appeared.  The  Stevenson  biographies  are  not  helpful  on 
the  point.  At  any  rate,  in  the  eleventh  edition  of  the 
"  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  "  the  great  writer  is  noted  as 
plunging  "  with  more  generous  ardour  than  coolness  of 
judgment  into  the  troubled  politics  of  the  country  "  ;  and 
4  A  Footnote  to  History  :  Eight  Years  of  Trouble  in 


60  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

Samoa,"  is  described  as  written  "  in  the  endeavour  to  win 
over  British  sympathy  to  his  native  friends."  As  Mr. 
Edmund  Gosse  is  the  biographer  in  this  case,  one  hesitates 
before  making  the  statement  that  German  intriguers  were 
regarded  as  having  a  stronger  case  than  the  Samoans,  and 
Stevenson  as  making  mischief  rather  than  as  settling  trouble. 
But  in  the  light  of  the  present  war  "  A  Footnote  to  History  " 
simply  reveals  as  in  a  flash  a  ruthless,  unprincipled  Ger- 
many. Mr.  Edmund  Gosse  would  not  allow  that  Stevenson 
was  wise  in  his  interference  any  more  than  Mr.  Walter 
Coote  would  mention  the  name  of  Germany  in  "  The 
Western  Pacific."  The  latter,  no  doubt,  wrote  only  of 
what  he  had  himself  seen  ;  and  as  a  traveller  he  was  not 
concerned  with  politics  or  the  strife  of  rival  traders.  But 
he  was  exceedingly  exercised  over  the  labour  traffic ;  and 
although  he  had  not  visited  Samoa,  he  certainly  records 
his  impressions  of  Fiji,  where  labour  shortage  for  the  planta- 
tions had  created  much  difficulty.  What  Germany  had 
been  doing  in  Samoa  was  of  special  interest  to  those  who 
were  interested  in  Fiji ;  and  surely  German  activity  and 
intrigue  were  known  and  talked  about  when  Mr.  Coote  was 
travelling  through  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  ! 

When  Stevenson  wrote  his  chapter  on  Samoan  history, 
covering  the  eight  years  between  1884  and  1892,  he  saw 
serious  danger  in  a  general  ignorance  about  Samoa  and  in 
the  refusal  to  write  plainly  about  Germany.  No  one 
would  stand  up  to  Bismarck,  and  the  Pacific  was  far  away. 
The  black  labour  traffic  was  certainly  a  bad  business  ;  but 
who  could  be  expected  to  make  the  unhappy  Samoans  a 
text  for  denunciatory  leading  articles  ?  Besides,  the 
tangle  between  Germany,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United 
States  was  too  thick  to  invite  interference  or  description. 


GERMAN  ARROGANCE  61 

Hence  Germany  carried  on.  Even  the  missionaries  dared 
not  speak  out.  After  Dr.  George  Brown  realised  that  the 
annexation  of  New  Guinea,  New  Britain,  New  Ireland,  and 
other  islands  was  intended  he  never  ceased  his  warnings. 
But  he  was  persona  grata  in  Berlin,  for  his  work  as  a  pioneer 
in  New  Britain  and  New  Ireland  had  made  it  easy  to 
approach  and  deal  with  the  natives.  Yet  he  was  very 
unhappy  about  German  ways  and  works.  All  the  strategic 
points  on  the  coasts  and  the  best  lands  everywhere  were 
being  acquired  for  a  song  or  taken  by  sheer  chicanery. 
When  annexation  was  achieved  there  was  nothing  left  to 
trouble  about,  because  the  way  had  been  carefully  prepared ; 
but  for  twelve  months  beforehand,  through  Dr.  Brown's 
constant  appeals,  the  people  of  Australia  knew  what  was 
coming.  Sir  Thomas  Mcllwraith's  protest  was  made  in 
the  form  of  direct  action  in  New  Guinea  itself,  but  even  so 
there  was  no  attempt  to  pillory  Germany  for  underhand 
ways  and  mean  tricks.  The  truth  could  only  be  indicated, 
and  "  the  thing  accomplished  "  became  another  reason  for 
not  rousing  German  animosity.  German  arrogance  was 
thus  a  constant  guard  against  the  critic.  It  was  assumed 
that  Germany  could  not  be  challenged  lest  the  peace  of 
nations  be  endangered  ;  and,  while  every  form  of  abuse 
practised  by  British  traders  and  schemers  could  be 
denounced  and  placed  on  record,  Germany  was  able  to 
frown  down  criticism.  Thus  it  is  not  now  possible  to  offer 
voluminous  evidence  of  her  misdeeds,  while  it  is  easy 
for  her  friends  to  point  to  much  achievement  in  lands 
planted,  roads  made,  and  ports  provided  and  equipped. 
German  organisation  in  her  newly-acquired  possessions, 
and  German  tolerance  and  practical  success  in  Samoa 
are  indicated  and  approved ;  and,  broadly,  on  these 


62  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

Germany  could  offer  substantial  defence  if  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  had  not  written  his  book,  and  if  George  Brown 
had  not  placed  his  fears  on  record  and  emphasised  the 
danger  to  British  possessions  in  the  Pacific  from  German 
wiles. 


CHAPTER  VII 

GERMAN   SLAVE   LABOUR 

The  Sterndale  report.  Sir  Julius  VogeFs  scheme.  "  The 
frightful  system  of  slavery  "  in  the  Pacific.  Can  Germany 
ever  be  trusted  ?  No  reservoirs  of  labour.  Sterndale's 
panegyric  of  Godeffroy  and  Son.  The  firm's  recruiting 
agents.  Stevenson's  remarks  upon  the  German  slave  trade. 
Escaped  negritos  in  Samoa.  Stevenson  heavily  handi- 
capped. Sir  John  Thurston  frowned  upon  him.  Germany's 
aim  to  get  everything. 

LIGHT  upon  the  question  of  native  labour  under  German 
control  in  the  Pacific  certainly  comes  with  the  Sterndale 
report,  but  the  latter  is  not  illuminating.  Rather,  if  we 
consider  its  purpose,  does  it  tend  to  make  darkness  visible. 
As  already  indicated,  it  forms  an  addendum  to  the  Vogel 
memoranda,  which  are  covered  by  the  despatches  of  the 
Governor  of  New  Zealand  to  the  British  Colonial  Office  in 
the  early  seventies.  Sir  Julius  Vogel,  to  give  him  his  later 
title,  was  not  alone  in  his  concern  about  the  Pacific,  for 
Sir  Henry  Parkes  and  Sir  John  Robertson  in  Australia, 
about  the  same  time,  were  as  anxious  as  he  to  see  something 
done  to  protect  British  interests.  To  each  of  these  states- 
men the  idea  of  company  enterprise  on  a  grand  scale 
appealed ;  and  one  cannot  help  feeling  that  the  Godeffroy 
activities  through  the  ocean  from  end  to  end  had  alarmed 
them.  Why  not  another  East  India  Company,  with 
governors  appointed  under  great  charters  and  many 
millions  of  capital  guaranteed  by  some  one — Great  Britain 
for  preference  ?  But  Sir  Julius  Vogel  put  his  proposals 


64  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

into  writing,  worked  them  up  into  the  solid  shape  of  a 
Government  offer,  and  added  reports  with  endless  parti- 
culars about  the  potential  wealth  of  the  various  island 
groups.  Godeffroy  &  Son  naturally  had  to  be  presented 
in  sufficiently  bold  outline  to  suit  a  large  plan  ;  but  Stern- 
dale  was  evidently  not  prepared  to  say  anything  very 
scathing  about  anybody.  Certainly  he  has  not  attacked 
Weber ;  and  as  an  ex-employee  he  must  have  felt  that  the 
Bismarckian  trader  was  a  dangerous  man  to  pillory  at  any 
time. 

Sir  Julius  Vogel,  before  putting  his  company  proposals 
into  concrete  form,  made  the  black  labour  traffic  of  the 
Pacific  one  of  his  chief  reasons  for  demanding  that  Great 
Britain  should  interfere.  Moreover,  he  mentions  the 
Samoan  group  as  the  centre  to  be  specifically  controlled. 
Here  are  his  words  :  "  Ministers  desire  very  earnestly  to 
add,  that  if  Great  Britain  really  intends  to  stop  the  frightful 
system  of  slavery  which,  under  the  pretence  of  voluntary 
labour,  is  now  being  carried  on  and  extended  amongst  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific,  some  hold  must  be  obtained  upon  a 
group  such  as  the  Navigators  (Samoa) ;  and  a  feeling  must 
be  created  that  the  inhabitants  of  any  of  the  scattered 
islands  can  depend  that  Great  Britain  will  not  only  refuse 
to  countenance  the  iniquities  which  are  driving  the  islanders 
to  desperation,  but  will  afford  protection  against  slavery  in 
any  shape  or  form."  Later  on  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the 
need  of  protection  for  the  natives  of  Samoa,  lest  they  be 
kidnapped  into  slavery.  Forced  labour  was  apparently 
feared,  but  the  main  stress  is  put  upon  the  evils  of  a  system, 
alleged  to  be  voluntary,  which  was  reproducing  the  worst 
evils  of  the  old  slave  trade  that  Great  Britain  had  spent  so 
much  to  crush. 


GERMAN  SLAVE  LABOUR      65 

Questions  will  arise  here  which  must  be  answered  before 
the  argument  against  Germany  can  be  properly  developed. 
One  has  relation  to  Samoa,  as  we  know  the  islands  since 
Germany  obtained  full  possession  of  them,  with  Dr.  Solf  as 
Governor.  What  has  the  recital  of  facts  taken  from  a 
report  written  in  1874  to  do  with  the  new  Samoa  ?  And, 
further,  how  can  any  historical  recital  of  the  sort  help  to 
decide  whether  Germany's  Pacific  possessions  shall  be 
returned  to  her  in  some  year  far  ahead  ?  Now  that 
Germany  is  thoroughly  beaten,  and  realises  that  her  gospel 
of  might  is  false,  may  not  present  repentance  cancel  all  that 
appears  against  her  in  the  records  of  the  past  ?  The 
essential  question,  as  summing  up  the  rest,  is  whether 
Germany  can  be  trusted  to  deal  fairly  with  natives  that  have 
been  regarded  by  her  for  so  long  as  less  than  human — 
certainly  as  not  on  the  white  man's  grade  and  infinitely 
below  the  German  level.  But  have  the  natives  of  Samoa, 
New  Guinea,  «New  Britain,  New  Ireland,  and  the  Solomons 
been  treated  in  this  way  ?  The  reply  to  all  these  questions, 
and  finally  to  the  last  one,  is  that  the  German  attitude  to 
the  natives  of  the  Pacific  has  generally  been  truculent  and 
brutal.  This  is  the  position  now  sought  to  be  established ; 
and  Samoa  cannot  be  kept  out  of  the  argument  because 
Dr.  Solf  was  allowed  to  treat  the  Samoans  after  the  British 
plan — the  only  possible  way  under  the  circumstances.  It 
becomes  a  question  at  last  of  an  ingrained  habit  of  mind, 
and  that  notwithstanding  the  Samoan  experience  since  the 
year  1900.  What  was  practised  systematically  in  Samoa 
before  1900  was  continued  through  the  Pacific  up  to  1914, 
but  with  modifications,  forced  by  the  certainty  that  German 
plantations  could  not  be  cultivated  if  the  natives  were 
killed  or  died  out.  When  a  man  wishes  to  farm  success- 

8.0.  F 


66  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

fully  he  sees  that  his  horses  are  kept  in  good  condition,  are 
properly  handled,  and  are  not  overworked.     In  the  Bis- 
marck Archipelago  and  in  the  Solomons  the  lesson  was 
being  learned  that  the  natives,  even  as  animals,  were  worth 
preserving ;    but  never  at  any  time  was  there  a  disposi- 
tion to  treat  them  as  men  and  women  with  souls  to  be 
elevated  or  with  minds  to  be  trained  for  the  higher  tasks 
of  civilisation.     Germany  has  never  been  a  missionary  in 
the  Pacific.     She  has  never  sent  pioneers  for  Christianity 
there  as  Great  Britain  through  her  great  Mission-boards 
has    done ;  and    when    German    missionaries    have    been 
moved  or  drawn  into  the  circle  of  spiritual  enterprise  it  has 
been  through  English-speaking  channels,  or  they  have  been 
kept  under  German  discipline.     Germany  has  been  as  truly 
barbarous  in  her  relations  with  the  native  races  of  the 
Pacific  as  in  her  ruthless  handling  of  the  tribes  of  Africa, 
but  with  a  measure  of  restraint  because  of  commercial 
and  industrial  pressure.      The  Pacific  has  no  reservoirs  of 
labour  such  as  Africa  can  boast ;  and  in  Samoa  the  German 
and  other  plantations  have  only  been  kept  going  by  the  aid 
of  Chinese  introduced  under  the  indenture  system.     And 
the   Chinese   have   suffered   with  the   rest.     Evidence   is 
recorded  on  the  point  in  the  Australian  Inter-State  Com- 
mission Report  upon  "  British  and  Australian  Trade  in  the 
Pacific."     Mr.  C.  H.  Hughes,  Acting  Manager  in  Melbourne 
of  the  Union  Steamship  Company  of  New  Zealand,  said  : 
"  The  chief  difficulty  in  handling  labour  in  Samoa  has  been 
due  to  the  Germans.     The  natives  have  a  very  great  dread 
of  the  German,  and  they  will  not  work  for  him  if  they  can 
help  it.     The  Germans  imported  Chinese  coolies  and  treated 
them  so  badly  that  a  Chinese  Commissioner  was  sent  from 
Washington  to  make  confidential  inquiries  to  find  out  how 


GERMAN  SLAVE  LABOUR      67 

they  were  treated  ...  I  have  not  heard  of  any  trouble 
arising  through  the  importation  of  Chinese  coolies  into 
Samoa,  but  I  know  the  Chinese  dreaded  their  German 
task-masters." 

Samoans  do  not  like  work.  They  do  not  need  to  toil,  be- 
cause they  have  their  own  way  of  life  and  possess  land  that 
provides  them  with  plenty  of  food  almost  for  the  asking. 
Germany  had  not  reached  the  point  in  1914  at  which  the 
natives  were  to  be  flogged  and  forced  to  work  again. 
Forced  labour  has  been  a  Samoan  grievance ;  and  the 
differentiation  between  white  and  dark- owned  lands,  where 
roads  under  German  orders  were  opened,  had  raised  the 
bitterest  feelings.  Stevenson  refers  to  these  things  in 
"  A  Footnote  to  History  "  ;  but  it  is  enough  to  indicate  the 
position  in  passing.  The  main  purpose  of  this  argument 
is  to  establish  the  truth  of  a  German  attitude  towards  the 
natives  in  the  Pacific  right  up  to  1914  which  makes  it 
hopeless  to  expect  harmony  if  German  possessions  are 
restored.  To  clinch  such  an  argument  the  Anglo-Saxon 
attitude  must  be  demonstrated,  so  that  the  opposition 
between  the  two  shall  be  clearly  understood. 

Are  we  to  assume  that  Sir  Julius  Vogel  was  exaggerating 
when  referring  to  the  black  labour  traffic  ?  Was  he  merely 
anxious  to  support  his  case  for  a  great  company,  with 
capital  guaranteed  by  New  Zealand  for  fifty  years  at  five 
per  cent.,  to  buy  up  existing  interests  in  the  various  island 
groups  of  the  Pacific,  and  to  extend  production  in  many 
different  directions  ?  No  doubt  the  expected  profits  of 
such  an  enterprise  stirred  his  eager  mind,  and  the  extension 
of  New  Zealand's  sphere  of  influence,  if  Great  Britain  agreed, 
was  a  thought  of  power  which  might  easily  turn  a  dreamer's 
head.  But  the  truth  can  be  vouched  for  in  other  ways,  and 

v  2 


68  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

the  logic  of  facts  must  be  recognised  in  the  general  connec- 
tion. Meanwhile  it  is  only  fair  to  quote  the  Sterndale 
report  again  on  the  imported  labour  question.  When  the 
report  was  written  some  twelve  hundred  natives,  mostly 
from  the  Gilbert  Islands  or  adjacent  groups,  were  employed, 
but  the  usual  number  was  set  down  at  less  than  that. 
Besides  these  there  were  Samoans  and  natives  from  Nieue 
and  Rarotonga.  Of  the  Line  islanders,  as  they  were  called, 
Sterndale  had  little  good  to  say.  On  arrival  they  pre- 
sented "  an  example  of  the  lowest  type  of  Pacific  savages- 
naked,  brutal,  and  wolfish  in  aspect ;  having  lived  abso- 
lutely without  laws,  having  subsisted  only  upon  cocoa- 
nuts,  fish,  and  the  fruit  of  the  screw  palm  ;  seamed  with  the 
cars  of  incessant  affrays,  the  result  of  the  state  of  chronic 
ntoxication  in  which  their  brains  have  been  steeped  from 
childhood  from  the  use  of  the  fermented  toddy  of  the 
cocoa-nut  tree ;  a  large  proportion  being  afflicted  with 
cutaneous  diseases  and  various  forms  of  syphilis,  intro- 
duced among  them  by  the  crews  of  whaling  ships.  They 
arrive  filthy,  lazy,  and  ferocious.  They  are  comfortably 
lodged,  decently  clothed,  well  fed,  and  trained  to  honesty 
and  peaceful  industry.  After  six  months  of  plantation  life 
they  do  not  resemble  the  same  beings,  and,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  their  agreements,  they  are  so  far  improved  as  to  be 
unfit  for  communion  with  their  brutal  brethren  in  their 
native  isles  as  they  were  previously  for  contact  with 
civilised  humanity." 

This  is  only  the  beginning  of  a  panegyric  upon  the  Gode- 
ffroys'  handling  of  imported  labour.  One  wonders  whether 
the  Premier  of  New  Zealand  could  have  read  the  report,  so 
eulogistic  is  it  of  the  system  which  he  has  reprobated  in  his 
memorandum  for  the  information  of  the  British  Colonial 


GERMAN  SLAVE  LABOUR      69 

Office.  If  half  of  what  Sterndale  has  said  of  the  wonderful 
treatment  of  imported  natives  on  the  German  plantations 
at  Upolu  were  true,  then  Sir  Julius  Vogel  had  nothing  to 
vex  himself  over.  Godeffroy  &  Son  were  the  destined 
saviours  of  the  natives  of  the  Pacific.  The  regulations  for 
food,  labour,  and  punishment  are  given — the  last-men- 
tioned being  specially  humane,  since  the  "  cat  "  as  used  in 
the  navy  is  prescribed,  with  lashes  varying  from  one  to 
four  dozen,  "  administered  in  the  presence  of  the  Consul." 
It  is  all  very  wonderful.  Why  Theodor  Weber  did  not 
spread  the  good  news  far  and  wide  is  equally  astonishing. 
"Their  dwellings  were  of  sawn  timber — large,  airy,  and 
clean.  Their  food  consists  of  pork,  fish,  taro,  yams,  plan- 
tains, breadfruit,  and  a  daily  ration  of  wholesome  bread 
(baked  for  them  in  brick  ovens)  of  maize  meal,  of  which 
they  are  very  fond."  And  so  the  story  is  unfolded  of  nine 
hours'  work  per  day  and  none  on  Sunday,  of  medicines  and 
missionaries,  and  much  solicitude  in  every  direction.  But 
Mr.  Sterndale  has  regretfully  to  report  that  the  still  degraded 
savages  appeared  to  pay  no  heed  to  the  missionaries,  and 
were  not  known  to  have  benefited  by  their  teachings.  This 
is  interesting  in  view  of  the  statement  that  the  recruiting  of 
the  natives  was  so  carefully  and  wisely  done  that  none  of 
them  was  under  any  misconception  as  to  the  contract  he 
was  entering  into.  They  were  so  brutal  and  degraded 
that  even  after  six  months  of  the  Godeffroys'  heaven  upon 
earth  in  Samoa  they  could  not  respond  to  efforts  to  lift 
them  into  line  with  the  Samoans  themselves,  but  they  could 
understand  perfectly  all  about  continuous  labour  on 
German  plantations  with  a  cat  of  nine  tails  laid  upon  their 
backs  "  before  the  German  Consul  "  if  they  practised  the 
tricks  so  well  known  among  Line  Island  savages. 


70  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  in  this  connection  that  the 
recruiting  agents  of  Godeffroy  &  Son  were  like  the  rest  of 
that  class  throughout  the  Pacific.  They  were  mostly  non- 
German  adventurers  ;  for  the  firm  employed  more  men  of 
outside  nationalities  than  Germans,  and  was  not  at  all 
scrupulous  about  character  or  antecedents.  So  much  has 
already  been  shown  in  Poppe's  questions,  which  covered 
enough  to  guarantee  the  secrecy  required  by  the  Godeffroy 
practice  and  purpose.  Thus  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that 
the  twelve  hundred  Line  and  other  islanders  employed  by 
the  firm  were  handled  merely  like  fractious  children,  ready 
for  an  adventure  when  their  chiefs  agreed  to  let  them  go  in 
the  German  schooners,  and  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why 
the  Sterndale  eulogy  could  have  been  allowed  to  pass  with- 
out challenge  in  view  of  all  that  must  have  been  known  to 
Sir  Julius  Vogel.  But  the  denouement  is  interesting,  if 
Stevenson's  "  Footnote  to  History  "  is  read  in  the  general 
connection.  An  interval  of  nearly  twenty  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  Sterndale  report  was  written,  and  the  Godeffroy 
plantations  had  grown  larger.  Trade  had  increased  and 
cargoes  of  copra  were  more  numerous.  Surely  the  magnifi- 
cent traditions  of  1874  were  not  to  be  confounded  by  the 
facts  of  1892  !  It  is  true  that  Stevenson  does  not  give 
chapter  and  verse  of  any  decline.  He  does  not  present 
himself  as  a  witness  against  the  native  labour  traffic.  His 
method  is  to  indicate  rather  than  to  present  the  truth.  He 
says  :  "  Seven  or  eight  hundred  men  and  women  toil  for 
the  company  on  contracts  of  three  or  of  five  years,  and  at  a 
hypothetical  wage  of  a  few  dollars  in  the  month.  I  am  now 
on  a  burning  question,  the  labour  traffic ;  and  I  shall  ask 
permission  in  this  place  only  to  touch  it  with  the  tongs. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  in  Queensland,  Fiji,  New  Caledonia, 


GERMAN  SLAVE  LABOUR      71 

and  Hawaii  it  has  been  either  suppressed  or  placed  under 
close  public  supervision.  In  Samoa,  where  it  still  flourishes, 
there  is  no  regulation  of  which  the  public  receives  any 
evidence  ;  and  the  dirty  linen  of  the  firm,  if  there  be  any 
dirty,  and  if  it  be  ever  washed  at  all,  is  washed  in  private. 
This  is  unfortunate,  if  Germans  would  believe  it."  * 

This  is  sufficiently  direct,  but  Stevenson  does  not  give 
particulars.     The  object  of  his  book,  after  all,  is  not  so 
much  to  bray  the  German  firm  in  a  mortar  as  to  make  it 
difficult  for  Germany,  the  power  behind,  to  refuse  fair  play 
to  Mataafa  with  the  eyes  of  the  world  upon  Samoa.     "  A 
Footnote  to  History  "  finishes  on  the  note  of  appeal,  and 
Stevenson  is  never  spiteful,  though  he  is  often  severe.     The 
truth,  however,  was  his  first  concern.     He  was  determined 
that  the  position  in  Samoa  should  not  be  misunderstood, 
and,  though  so  little  could  be  said  about  it,  the  labour 
question  was  undoubtedly  a  burning  one.     The  Germans, 
he  says  again,  "  have  no  idea  of  publicity,  keep  their  busi- 
ness to  themselves,  rather  affect  to  '  move  in  a  mysterious 
way,'  and  are  naturally  incensed  by  criticisms,  which  they 
consider  hypocritical  from  men  who  would  import '  labour ' 
for  themselves,  if  they  could  afford  it,  and  would  probably 
maltreat  them  (the  natives)  if  they  dared."     What  follows 
shows  how  strong  would  be  the  case  against  the  Germans  in 
Samoa  if  the  light  could  be  let  in  as  it  has  been  thrown  upon 
the  labour  traffic  elsewhere  throughout  the  Pacific.     The 
recruiting  of  the  natives  from  various  groups  is  not  men- 
tioned by  Stevenson,  and  this  would  prove  to  be  an  evil 
business  by  itself.    But  the  actual  treatment  of  the  natives 
when  they  reached  Samoa  is  indicated  in  terms  which  con- 
trast vividly  with  the  details  of  the  Sterndale  report. 
*  "  A  Footnote  to  History,"  p.  31. 


72  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

Stevenson  continues  :  "  It  is  said  that  the  whip  is  busy  on 
some  of  the  plantations ;  it  is  said  that  punitive  extra 
labour,  by  which  the  thrall's  term  of  service  is  extended, 
has  grown  to  be  an  abuse  ;  and  it  is  complained  that,  even 
where  that  term  is  out,  much  irregularity  occurs  in  the  re- 
patriation of  the  discharged.  To  all  this  I  can  say  nothing 
good  or  bad.  A  certain  number  of  the  thralls,  many  of  them 
wild  negritos  from  the  West,  have  taken  to  the  bush, 
harbour  there  in  a  state  partly  bestial,  or  creep  into  the 
back  quarters  of  the  town  to  do  a  day's  stealthy  labour 
under  the  nose  of  their  proprietors.  Twelve  were  arrested 
one  morning  in  my  own  boys'  kitchen.  Further  in  the  bush, 
huts,  small  patches  of  cultivation  and  smoking  ovens  have 
been  found  by  hunters.  There  are  still  three  runaways  in 
the  woods  of  Tutuila,  whither  they  escaped  upon  a  raft. 
And  the  Samoans  regard  these  dark-skinned  rangers  with 
extreme  alarm  ;  the  fourth  refugee  in  Tutuila  was  shot  down 
(as  I  was  told  in  that  island)  while  carrying  off  the  virgin  of 
a  village  ;  and  tales  of  cannibalism  run  round  the  country, 
and  the  natives  shudder  about  the  evening  fire."  * 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Stevenson  calls  these  imported 
natives  "  thralls."  They  were  slaves  in  his  eyes  as  truly 
as  if  they  had  the  thrall's  collar  round  their  necks  and  could 
be  killed  or  scourged  as  in  the  old  Saxon  days.  But,  it  may 
be  asked,  why  did  not  Stevenson  keep  silence  if  he  could  not 
prove  slavery  ?  Why  hint  at  the  thing  and  leave  so  much 
to  be  inferred  ?  No  doubt  the  use  of  the  phrase  "it  is 
said  "  warrants  these  questions ;  but  Stevenson  was  not 
dealing  with  facts  concerning  a  British  community.  He 
was  in  an  alien  land  facing  a  great  German  firm  with 
Germany  behind  it,  and  he  was  in  danger  of  deportation 
*  "  A  Footnote  to  History,"  pp.  31—32. 


GERMAN  SLAVE  LABOUR      73 

himself  as  a  public  nuisance.  Not  individual  German 
planters,  but  Bismarck  and  the  whole  machinery  of  the 
Berlin  Foreign  Office  were  with  Godeffroy  &  Son  ;  and  the 
black  labour  traffic  in  Samoa  was  part  of  the  German  system. 
It  was  extremely  venturesome  on  Stevenson's  part  to  go  as 
far  as  he  did,  and  he  was  quite  prepared  to  pay  the  penalty  ; 
but  after  all,  he  was  calling  to  the  Government  of  Great 
Britain  and  to  a  British  public  that  could  be  aroused  on 
occasion. 

One  realises  that  Stevenson  was  heavily  handicapped  in 
this  joust  against  Germany,  because  the  officials  of  his  own 
country  could  be  so  hopeless  when  asked  for  help.  They 
would  insist  upon  accepting  conditions  as  they  were. 
Why  should  they  interfere  because  the  German  labour  traffic 
was  being  carried  on  as  a  system  of  slavery  ?  Stevenson 
thus  became  in  their  eyes  a  meddling  humbug  ;  and  Sir 
John  Thurston,  as  High  Commissioner  of  the  Western 
Pacific  and  Governor  of  Fiji,  frowned  heavily  upon  him. 
Thus  it  happened  that  the  references,  above  quoted,  to 
German  imported  labour  were  disregarded  or  explained 
away  and  that  Stevenson  was  considered  to  have  put  more 
heart  than  head  into  his  championship  of  the  Samoans. 
Now,  at  any  rate,  one  wishes  that  the  novelist,  turned  his- 
torian, had  put  down  a  good  deal  more  upon  paper,  if  only 
for  publication  after  his  death.  But  it  was  the  same  all 
round.  No  one  cared  to  speak  or  to  write  against  Germany, 
and  we  are  forced  to  argue  from  suggestion  instead  of  being 
able  to  recite  the  facts  of  the  case.  There  can  be  no  ques- 
tion whatever,  even  if  the  evidence  be  considered  circum- 
stantial, that  in  Samoa  itself  Germans  tor  nearly  forty 
years  were  slave  owners  and  slave  drivers — in  the  sense  that 
the  natives  employed  by  them  were  not  free  agents,  neither 


74  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

at  the  moment  of  engagement  nor  in  the  manner  of  their 
employment.  The  latter  were  savages,  without  the 
slightest  knowledge  of  the  conditions  to  which  they  were 
being  committed  ;  and  once  in  Samoa  they  were  driven  to 
work,  whipped,  and  locked  up  like  cattle,  though  good  food 
and  decent  quarters  may  have  been  provided  and  white 
missionaries  allowed  to  visit  them.  But  the  point  is  that 
Germany,  through  her  Consulate,  which  was  one  of  the 
German  firm's  assets,  was  a  party  to  it  all.  In  the  Pacific 
individual  polyglot  adventurers — white  men  on  the  beaches 
— were  ruthless  and  brutal  among  the  natives.  But  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States,  through  their  Governments, 
have  been  consistently  on  the  side  of  the  people,  whom 
they  found  in  possession  of  so  many  islands  and  island 
groups.  This  is  the  very  crux  of  the  present  argument. 
It  is  the  case  against  Germany  in  the  Pacific.  First  in 
Samoa  and  then  right  through  the  ocean  German  ways  with 
the  natives  have  been  full  of  treachery,  deceit,  and  devilish- 
ness.  The  German  trade  and  labour  ideal  has  been  to  make 
as  much  profit  as  possible  without  reference  to  law  or 
gospel.  Added  to  this  since  1870  has  been  the  itching  for 
world  power ;  and  in  the  Pacific  a  grasp  of  so  much  has 
prompted  the  determination  to  get  all  at  the  expense  of 
natives  and  Europeans  alike. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A   SETTLED    POLICY 

Sir  John  Thurston  in  the  Pacific.  His  report  on  Samoa  in 
the  British  Blue  Book  (1885 — 1889).  He  touches  the  German 
slave  trade  with  a  pair  of  tongs.  German  claims  in  Samoa. 
The  Agreement  of  1886.  Treated  as  "  a  scrap  of  paper." 
Trade  in  the  Pacific  a  preparation  for  war.  Close  parallel 
with  the  Cameroons  in  Germany's  treatment  of  the  natives. 
Mr.  Poultney  Bigelow's  evidence.  Atrocities  in  the  Caroline 
Islands.  Africa  and  the  Pacific  must  be  taken  together. 

PROBABLY  nobody  knew  the  Pacific  better,  on  the  ad- 
ministrative side,  in  the  half  century  preceding  his  death 
than  Sir  John  Thurston.  He  was  in  Fiji,  before  the 
cession  of  the  group  in  1874,  as  right  hand  to  King  Thakom- 
bau  ;  and  when  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  arrived  as  first  Governor 
in  the  following  year  he  was  appointed  Colonial  Secretary 
and  Auditor-General  in  the  administration  of  the  new 
colony.  Through  the  rest  of  a  long  life  he  was  a  trusted 
official.  After  Germany  had  surprised  the  world  by  her 
annexations  in  the  Pacific  the  British  Government  sent  for 
Sir  John,  and  he  reached  London  to  find  some  important 
work  awaiting  him.  In  August,  1885,  he  was  appointed 
British  Commissioner,  to  discuss  British  and  German  in- 
terests in  the  South  Seas  with  a  German  representative  on 
an  Anglo- German  Commission  ;  and  reference  has  already 
been  made  to  the  Blue  Book  which  embodies  the  results 
of  conferences,  negotiations  and  so  forth  between  1885 
and  1889.  The  above  summary  of  Sir  John  Thurston's 
activities  at  a  critical  time  in  the  history  of  the  Pacific  is  a 


76  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

necessary  introduction  to  his  references  to  German  trade 
and  claims  in  Samoa,  because  the  annexations  by  Germany 
in  1884  are  related  by  him  to  the  imported  native  labour 
required  for  the  Upolu  plantations.  In  the  report  which 
he  submitted,  under  cover  of  a  letter  dated  October  1st, 
1886,  and  written  from  the  office  of  the  High  Commissioner 
for  the  Western  Pacific  at  Suva,  the  question  is  referred  to 
in  the  following  words  :  "  For  reasons  which  need  not  here 
be  entered  into,  Her  Majesty's  Government  has  not  favoured 
the  introduction  of  Pacific  Islanders  to  act  as  agricultural 
labourers  in  places  not  within  Her  Majesty's  jurisdiction. 
The  lands  of  British  subjects,  therefore,  lie  almost  wholly 
uncultivated."  This  had  immediate  application  to  Samoa 
and  was  intended  as  a  reply  to  the  German  claim  that  only 
Germans  carried  on  real  plantation  work  there.  The  dis- 
cussion of  this  point,  and  of  other  points  raised,  makes 
interesting  reading,  because  the  reports  of  the  British, 
German,  and  American  representatives  are  embodied  in  the 
Blue  Book  above  mentioned,  which  covers  the  documents 
upon  Samoa  from  1885  to  1889.  The  German  Consul- 
General  Travers  in  his  report,  a  copy  of  which  was  handed 
to  Lord  Salisbury  by  the  German  Ambassador  in  London, 
laid  it  down  that  nearly  everything  in  the  Samoan  group 
was  German.  He  wrote  :  "  The  bulk  of  foreign  interests 
in  Samoa  lies  clearly  in  the  hands  of  Germans.  The 
moment  you  enter  the  harbour  of  Apia  your  eye  rests  upon 
the  great  warehouses  and  business  premises  of  the  German 
firms  of  H.  M.  Ruge  &  Co.,  and  the  German  Commercial  and 
Plantation  Company,  especially  the  yards  for  cleaning 
wool  and  working  the  cocoa  fibre  by  steam,  the  extensive 
store-houses,  and,  next  to  them,  the  long  row  of  houses 
occupied  by  the  employees  of  the  Company,  while  you  per- 


A  SETTLED   POLICY  77 

ceive  clearly  on  the  green  hills  which  come  down  close  to 
the  harbour  the  extensive  German  plantations  of  Vaitele, 
Motootua,  Vailele,  and  especially  the  coffee  plantation  of 
Utumapu  lying  above  the  rest."  The  report  goes  on  to 
explain  that  every  third  foreigner  met  is  an  employee  of 
the  Company  for  which  "  the  Samoans  themselves,  and, 
indeed,  every  one  in  Samoa,  have  only  one  name,  which  is 
4  the  old  firm.'  The  natives  know  it  by  no  other."  Thus 
does  Godeffroy  &  Son  come  to  light  again.  "  The  old  firm  " 
had  collapsed  after  the  Franco-Prussian  War ;  but  the 
company  resurrected  at  Hamburg  by  Theodor  Weber,  with 
Prince  Bismarck's  sympathy  and  assistance,  was  straddling 
over  everything. 

For  the  moment,  it  is  enough  to  think  of  the  Company's 
plantations  and  of  the  claim  that  "  only  Germans  carried  on 
plantation  work  in  Samoa."  Of  English  and  American 
plantations  Consul-General  Travers  in  his  report  writes 
contemptuously  enough  :  "  If  this  land  is  called  cultivated 
land,  it  only  means  that  it  has  been  planted  for  years  with 
cocoa  palms  and  native  useful  plants.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  not  cultivated  by  regular  workmen,  and  is  generally 
neglected."  Then  follows  the  claim  aforesaid  that  Germans 
were  the  only  planters  worth  the  name,  which  was  antici- 
pated in  the  Thurston  report  by  the  reminder  that  British 
planters  in  Samoa  were  not  permitted  to  import  native 
labour.  But  Sir  John  Thurston  noted  that  the  German 
Government  had  given  its  sanction  to  the  immigration  of 
natives  for  labour,  and  added  that  it  had  "  lately  brought 
under  its  influence  certain  large  and  populous  islands  for 
the  sake,  as  it  would  appear,  of,  among  other  things,  con- 
serving the  Samoan  plantations,  which  otherwise  might  fall 
into  neglect  and  ruin."  This  could  only  refer  to  the 


78  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

annexations  of  1884,  which  made  a  section  of  New  Guinea, 
the  Bismarck  Archipelago  and  a  portion  of  the  Solomons 
part  of  Germany's  Colonial  Empire.     But  two  significant 
facts  may  be  noticed  in  these  rejoinders.     The  black  labour 
traffic  is  touched  by  Sir  John  Thurston  with  a  pair  of  tongs, 
to  use  Robert  Louis  Stevenson's  expressive  phrase  in  his  own 
reference  to  the  vile  business ;  and  the  action  which  re- 
sulted in  the  permanent  control  by  Germany  of  large 
islands  and  island  groups  in  the  Pacific  is  related  to  Samoa. 
German  plantations  in  Upolu  could  only  be  kept  going  by 
imported  native  labour,  about  which  the  less  said  the  better, 
according  to  Sir  John  Thurston  in  1886  and  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  in  1892  ;  and,  as  a  fit  sequel  to  all  that  had  gone 
before,  Germany  broke  her  word  with  Great  Britain  to 
insure  the  supply.     As  British  Commissioner,   Sir  John 
Thurston  was  not  concerned  with  Germany's  black  labour 
iniquities.     He  had  to  glance  at  the  business  and  leave  it ; 
because  it  was  necessary,  without  entering  into  explana- 
tions, to  indicate  why  British  planters  in  Samoa  could  not 
compete  with  German  slave  drivers.     Moreover,  the  dis- 
cussion of  many  things  was  proceeding,  since  a  clearer 
definition  of  British  and  German  territorial  interests  was 
to  be  reached  as  a  result  of  the  Anglo-German  Commission's 
work.     Out  of  it  came,  for  instance,  the  Agreement  of  1886, 
which  put  the  most  populous  of  the  Solomon  Islands  within 
the  German  sphere  of  interest  and  consigned  a  multitude 
of  natives  to  the  control  of  German  officials,  more  con- 
cerned  about  plantation  profits  than   human   flesh  and 
blood.     Sir  John  Thurston,  no  doubt,  thought  he  had  done 
well  in  obtaining  Germany's  consent  to  the  provision  that 
access  to  the  islands  for  trade  should  be  equal  and  that 
natives  in    the  German  Solomons  should  still  be  free  to 


A  SETTLED   POLICY  79 

pass  into  the  British  Solomons.  This  was  a  perfectly 
legitimate  arrangement,  because  the  group  is  one.  Its 
people  are  not  divided  as  are,  say,  the  natives  of  New 
Britain  and  New  Guinea,  but  are  of  the  same  race  ;  they 
speak  practically  the  same  language,  though  in  different 
dialects,  and  before  Germany  came  were  accustomed  to 
pass  from  island  to  island  as  they  pleased.  The  Samoan 
group  in  the  same  way  was  always  occupied  by  natives  able 
to  understand  one  another  and  living  under  the  same  forms 
of  chiefly  control  and  tribal  usage.  Hence  the  provision 
that  no  barriers  should  be  erected  only  continued  what 
nature  and  the  proximity  of  the  islands  had  arranged  in  the 
first  instance.  This  meant,  however,  that,  if  and  when 
plantations  were  started  on  islands  of  the  Solomon  group 
in  the  British  sphere,  labour  could  be  engaged  from  the 
other  side.  It  would  simply  be  a  question  of  competition, 
with  the  natives  left  as  free  agents.  This  became  a  real 
test  of  British  and  German  practice.  When  British 
plantations  were  begun  the  German  natives  went  over  to 
enjoy  the  more  humane  treatment  and  milder  control  of 
English-speaking  folk ;  and  thereupon  German  officials 
treated  the  Agreement  of  1886  as  a  scrap  of  paper.  There 
was  no  direct  challenge.  It  was  all  done  by  regulation  and 
clever  evasion.  German  natives  were  kept  at  home  and 
under  stricter  discipline.  Soon  British  planters  realised 
how  thoroughly  Germany  had  spied  out  the  land  when  in 
the  rearrangements  of  1900  over  Samoa  she  agreed  to  take 
only  the  islands  of  Bougainville  and  Buka  with  their  teem- 
ing population,  and  left  to  Great  Britain  the  islands  denuded 
of  people  by  head-hunting  and  massacres — except  that 
Malaita,  with  a  specially  bad  name  for  cannibalism  and 
bestiality,  was  still  a  good  recruiting  ground. 


80  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

A  wider  reach  was  given  to  German  duplicity  later  on 
when  the  trading  provisions  of  the  Agreement  of  1886  were 
deliberately  torn  up  by  the  attacks  upon  Australian  trade 
in  the  Marshall  Islands  in  1904.  The  story  has  already  been 
told  in  Australian  newspapers  and  has  been  summarised 
in  "  The  New  Pacific  "  ;  but  it  will  serve  later  on  in  the 
present  book  to  emphasise  afresh  the  truth  that  the  German 
menace  in  the  Pacific  had  more  than  one  side.  The  un- 
scrupulous handling  of  native  labour  had  its  parallel  in  the 
ruthless  undermining  of  Australasian  trade  by  considering 
all  agreements  as  only  worth  the  paper  carrying  them. 
Piracy  was  made  to  take  the  place  of  peaceful  competition. 
A  third  side  in  the  German  plan  of  campaign  for  complete 
possession  of  the  Pacific  was  found  in  preparation  for  war, 
and  in  theTchoice  of  strategic  points  for  aggression  at  the 
supreme  moment.  Native  labour  was  used  without  ruth 
when  military  and  naval  bases  had  to  be  built  or  altered — 
which  brings  in  again  the  German  attitude  to  the  peoples 
of  the  Pacific.  As  illustrating  and  strengthening  the 
argument  against  Germany's  gross  abuse  of  native  labour 
nothing  could  be  better  than  the  story  told  by  Staff- 
Paymaster  Cyril  Cox,  R.N.R.,  of  the  German  occupation 
of  the  Cameroons.  What  happened  in  West  Africa  reads 
like  an  account  of  Samoa  before  1900  in  many  particulars, 
and  especially  does  it  give  a  wonderful  parallel  to  the 
German  plan  of  campaign  in  the  Bismarck  Archipelago 
and  the  Solomon  Islands  since  1884.  Briefly,  Mr.  Cox 
thus  presents  his  case  :  "  The  cocoa  plantations  in  the 
Cameroons,  which  were  worked  by  native  labour  under 
the  supervision  of  German  overseers,  presented  all  the 
appearances  of  highly  efficient  industrial  organisations. 
Large  spaces  of  jungle  had  been  reclaimed  and  carefully 


A  SETTLED   POLICY  81 

cultivated    by   up-to-date   methods.     Acres    of   plantains 
have  been  laid  out  in  the  vicinity  of  the  cocoa  fields,  in 
order  to  provide  the  native  workers  with  their  principal 
food.     Roads  and  railways  have  been  constructed  to  bring 
the  plantations  within  easy  access  of  a  seaport.     Provision 
has  been  made  for  the  comfort  of   the  workers  by  the 
erection    of   commodious    huts,    and    even    of    hospitals, 
which  have  been  equipped  with  all  the  devices  of  modern 
science   for  the   cure   of  tropical   diseases."     This   reads 
like  an  extract  from  the  Sterndale  report  on  the  Godeffroy 
arrangements  in  Samoa  in  1874,  instead  of  being  written 
in   1918 ;    and  it   only  needs   the    Sterndale   eulogy  to 
complete    the    illusion.     Said    Mr.    Sterndale    after    his 
glowing   periods   upon    German   efficiency   and   humani- 
tarianism : — "  It  would  be  well  for  planters  throughout 
the  tropics,  if  the  system  pursued  by  the  Messrs.  Godeffroy 
were  more  generally  known  and  adopted.    All  the  other 
establishments  in  Samoa  where  imported  labour  is  employed 
are  conducted  on  the  same  humane  and  just  principles." 
But  Mr.  Sterndale  did  not  say  what  the  imported  natives 
thought  of  it  all.     Mr.  Cox,  on  the  other  hand,  shows 
that  the  natives  of  the  Cameroons,  who  were  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  on  their  own  soil,  would  have  none  of  it 
when  choice  was  possible.      No  amount  of  lavish  expendi- 
ture on  huts  and  hospitals  compensated  for  a  very  real 
lack  of  liberty — and  worse.     They  were  forced  to  work 
and  were  flogged  if  they  refused,  precisely  as  in  German 
possessions    in    the    Pacific.     The    system,    however,    as 
Mr.  Cox  explains,  could  not  technically  be  described  as 
slavery.     The    Germans    "  avoided    this    by    the    simple 
device  of  paying  wages  to  the  workers,"  precisely  as  was 
done  in  Samoa  according  to  Mr.  Sterndale.     The  rest  of 
s.o.  o 


82  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

the  paragraph  by  Mr.  Cox  may  be  quoted  as  again  covering 
the  practice  by  the  German  firm  on  its  plantations  at 
Upolu  in  Samoa,  and  as  put  into  force  in  the  Bismarck 
Archipelago  and  the  Solomons  : — "  The  wages  were  merely 
nominal — a  few  shillings  a  month — but  any  small  sum 
sufficed  to  prove  that  the  workers  were  not  slaves  according 
to  the  strict  interpretation  of  the  word.  All  the  same, 
the  fact  remains  that  the  workers  were  forced  to  work  on 
the  cocoa  plantations,  wrhether  they  wanted  to  or  not, 
that  they  were  not  allowed  to  leave  their  work  and  seek 
other  occupation  when  the  inclination  seized  them,  and 
that  their  German  overseers  had  practically  unlimited 
powers  in  dealing  with  them,  and  could,  if  they  chose, 
exercise  those  powers  with  unbridled  brutality." 

But  there  is  something  more  in  this  account  of  the 
Cameroons,  and  it  gives  strong  reinforcement  to  the  argu- 
ment against  Germany  in  the  Pacific.  Mr.  Cox  says 
quite  emphatically  that  the  natives  in  the  Cameroons 
hated  the  Germans,  and  for  very  valid  reasons  additional 
to  that  of  being  forced  to  work  for  them.  While  the 
German  plantation  and  improvement  idea  was  anathema 
to  the  natives,  as  it  was  sought  to  be  realised,  the  basis  of 
conduct  as  between  the  white  man  and  the  black  was  an 
impossible  one.  Always  the  white  man  was  right ;  and 
he  claimed  to  be  above  all  law.  "  The  administration  of 
justice  was  based  upon  the  principle  of  the  divine  right 
of  the  white  man.  Any  German,  whether  he  was  a  trader, 
a  missionary,  a  cocoa-planter,  or  anybody  else,  could  take 
any  native  to  the  police  station  and  have  him  flogged. 
If  the  white  man  said  that  the  native  deserved  the  punish- 
ment, his  word  was  enough ;  no  other  evidence  was 
required."  So  the  story  is  unfolded  by  contrasting  the 


A   SETTLED   POLICY  83 

British  way  with  the  natives.  When  war  was  declared 
there  was  a  general  belief  among  the  latter  that  the  English 
came  to  avenge  the  death  of  "  King  Bell,"  one  of  their 
hereditary  chiefs,  who  had  been  hanged  by  the  Germans 
for  saying  that  he  would  complain  to  the  English  Emperor. 
But  the  whole  business,  and  its  final  exposure  by  Mr.  Cox, 
exactly  fits  the  case  for  a  refusal  to  return  German  posses- 
sions in  the  Pacific.  It  is  true  that  in  the  Pacific  the 
outbreak  of  war  never  gave  the  Germans  a  chance  to 
torture  unfortunate  natives  for  sympathising  with  and 
assisting  the  British  forces.  Hostilities  ended  too  quickly, 
and  generally  the  desert  of  ocean  makes  it  impossible  to 
carry  the  parallel  further  than  it  has  been  drawn. 

But  the  principles  upon  which  the  Germans  acted  in  the 
Pacific  for  more  than  half  a  century  were  precisely  the  same 
as  they  adopted  and  enforced  in  South  Africa.  Moreover, 
the  excesses  of  brutality  were  paralleled  in  the  Pacific, 
though  on  a  smaller  scale  because  the  natives  were  less 
numerous.  There  is  nothing  in  the  round  of  German 
occupation  to  put  beside  the  number  of  Africans  slaughtered, 
nor  among  details  is  there  a  tally  to  match  the  thousands 
of  murdered  Hereros  in  the  South- West.  But  it  is  only  a 
difference  in  numbers,  not  in  intention  or  temper.  As  to 
the  treatment  of  the  natives  in  German  possessions  in  the 
Pacific,  Mr.  Poultney  Bigelow  has  given  his  testimony  in 
"  Prussian  Memories."  This  takes  us  to  within  less  than 
a  decade  of  the  outbreak  of  war  in  1914,  and  it  is  sufficiently 
impressive.  Mr.  Bigelow  tells  us  of  the  wonderful  roads 
and  fine  buildings  seen  in  his  course  through  German  New 
Guinea  and  the  Bismarck  Archipelago ;  and  he  gives 
chapter  and  verse  when  describing  the  terror  of  the  natives 
at  the  sight  of  a  German  uniform.  Everything  was 

G2 


84  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

thoroughly  organised,  and  notices  of  practices  forbidden 
were  apparently  as  plentiful  as  in  Berlin.  But  nowhere 
could  the  observant  American,  to  whom  all  the  doors  were 
opened,  find  a  contented  native  population.  There  were 
plantations,  and  much  practical  improvement  in  local 
conditions,  but  it  might  have  been  the  Cameroons  instead 
of  New  Britain  that  was  voicing  oppression  and  wrong — 
the  wrong  bred  of  arrogance  and  of  an  attitude  towards  the 
natives  a  century  out  of  date.  The  forced  employment  of 
native  labour  was  always  prominent ;  but  German  brutality 
in  the  Pacific  found  its  worst  modern  examples  in  the 
Marshalls  and  the  Carolines.  Mr.  Evan  Lewin  and  Mr.  M. 
Montgomery-Campbell,  writing  in  the  Quarterly  Review 
for  April,  1918,  have  put  the  horror  in  a  nutshell.  They 
say  :  "  One  of  the  darkest  blots  on  the  pages  of  German 
colonial  administration  was  undoubtedly  the  ever-recurring 
and  indiscriminate  flogging  of  natives.  Notorious  cases 
of  this  punishment — as  inflicted  by  the  Germans — blacken 
the  name  of  Landeshauptmann  Brandeis,  who,  when 
acting  in  the  Marshall  Islands,  ordered  constant  floggings 
and  did  not  enter  them  in  the  punishment  book.  When 
his  delinquencies  were  mentioned  in  the  Reichstag,  the 
usual  official  excuses  were  made  for  him.  He  was  in  a 
difficult  position,  it  was  said ;  he  acted  bond  fide ;  he  even 
flogged  for  educative  reasons.  Dernburg,  in  apologising 
for  him,  could  not  get  over  the  fact  that,  in  some  eleven 
cases  he  had  been  proved  to  have  ordered  floggings  not 
legally  permissible.  Brandeis  received  a  mild  reprimand, 
and  eventually  a  decoration ;  and  this  though  no  less  an 
authority  than  Consul-General  Knappe,  of  Shanghai, 
whom  Erzberger  called  v  one  of  our  most  experienced 
politicians,'  wrote  in  an  official  letter  that  he  had  witnessed 


A  SETTLED  POLICY  85 

the  floggings  both  in  the  Marshall  Islands  and  Samoa, 
and  that  '  the  impression  was  a  disgusting  one,  both  for 
white  men  and  black.'  He  added  that  '  it  caused  great 
excitement,  a  public  meeting  of  indignation  on  account 
of  the  flogging  in  the  Marshall  Islands  being  only  suppressed 
by  the  accidental  presence  of  a  squadron.'  Erzberger 
took  up  the  Brandeis  case  with  great  vigour,  referring  to 
it  in  more  than  one  speech,  and  strongly  reprehending  the 
practice  of  the  authorities  who  sought  to  throw  dust  in 
the  eyes  of  the  public  regarding  the  way  in  which  the 
colonial  officials  exceeded  their  authority."  * 

This  was  by  way  of  education  and  discipline.  It  may 
be  imagined  what  German  punishment  would  be  like  in 
the  case  of  revolt  by  natives  in  the  islands  of  the  Caroline 
group.  This  story  of  retaliation  may,  in  fact,  be  placed 
beside  that  of  the  Hereros  in  South- West  Africa  for  its 
brutality  and  sheer  vindictiveness.  Lest  it  should  be 
supposed  that  the  natives  of  the  Caroline  Islands  were 
naturally  savage  and  cruel,  a  certificate  of  character  may 
be  offered  from  the  Sterndale  report.  They  were 
undoubtedly  a  difficult  people  to  manage,  as  the  Spaniards 
had  discovered  to  their  cost,  but  Sterndale,  in  1874,  said 
of  the  natives  of  Ponape  (where  some  German  officials 
were  murdered  in  1910) : — "  They  are  kindly  disposed 
and  peaceable,  though  they  have  often  been  decimated 
and  driven  to  desperation  by  hordes  of  lawless  ruffians, 
who  have  established  themselves  upon  the  island  from 
time  to  time,  and  produced  much  mischief.  These  have 
been  generally  beachcombers  from  Manilla,  Guam  or  the 
Sandwich  Isles.  Sometimes  (as  twenty  years  ago)  there 

*  Quarterly  Review,  April,  1918,  "  How  Germany  treats  the 
Native,"  p.  386. 


86  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

have  been  as  many  as  a  hundred  on  Ascension  (Ponape) 
at  one  time ;  and  it  shows  plainly  enough  that  these 
Ascension  islanders  must  have  in  themselves  the  germ  of 
very  much  better  things,  when  we  find  them,  as  they  are, 
hospitable,  generous,  and  industrious,  after  so  many 
years  of  intimate  contact  with  such  irremediable  scoundrels 
as  the  majority  of  their  European  visitors  undoubtedly 
were."  *  The  Caroline  Islands,  indeed,  have  a  very 
remarkable  history.  The  natives  may  be  compared  in 
some  respects  with  the  Samoans,  except  that  their  character 
has  more  steel  in  it,  as  the  Germans  discovered  when  they 
attempted  to  put  into  operation  their  system  of  forced 
labour  after  taking  over  the  group  from  Spain.  Their 
hatred  of  the  Germans  at  last  became  desperate.  When, 
in  1910,  a  poll  tax  was  levied  for  revenue  purposes  and  the 
natives,  on  failing  to  pay,  were  compelled  to  labour  on 
the  roads  and  on  other  public  works,  they  turned  upon  the 
German  officials  and  murdered  them.  They  could  under- 
stand that  they  had  to  pay  a  yearly  tax  to  the  superior 
power,  but  they  could  not  comprehend  the  justice  of 
being  made  to  work  without  remuneration.  And  the 
natives  of  the  Caroline  Islands  to-day  are  not  fools.  They 
are  still  naturally  very  intelligent ;  and,  like  the  Samoans 
under  the  London  Missionary  Society,  they  have  been  so 
far  educated  by  American  missionaries  and  Spanish  priests 
that  most  of  them  can  read  and  write.  In  the  official 
report  of  the  massacre  in  1910  reference  was  made  to 
certain  punishments  which  no  doubt  were  similar  to  the 
brutal  floggings  that  so  disgusted  Consul-General  Knappe, 
of  Shanghai,  when  he  witnessed  them  in  the  Marshall 
Islands  and  Samoa.  We  have  only  to  imagine  the  Samoans 
*  New  Zealand  Blue  Book,  1874,  p.  23. 


A  SETTLED   POLICY  87 

rising  in  their  wrath,  under  a  chief  strong  enough  to  lead 
and  hold  them,  to  understand  the  crisis  Germany  would 
have  had  to  face  if  she  had  pushed  matters  to  extremes 
in  Samoa  as  she  did  through  her  officials  in  the  Carolines. 
Things  would  have  happened  long  before  in  the  latter 
group  had  it  not  been  for  the  tact  and  discretion  of  Dr.  Hahl, 
who  was  the  first  German  official  appointed  to  the  group 
and  adjacent  islands.  When  he  became  Governor  of 
German  New  Guinea  troubles  arose  in  the  Carolines  which 
ended  in  tragedy.  Germany  brought  her  mailed  fist  down 
on  the  unfortunate  natives  with  an  awful  smash.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  brutal  revenges  she  has  taken ;  and  her 
theory  that  frightfulness  is  sound  sense  was  given  intense 
expression,  on  the  principle  that  natives  crushed  and  broken 
will  make  no  more  mischief.  Those  shot  down  in  the 
Carolines  may  have  been  included  by  Professor  Schillings, 
at  one  time  employed  in  the  German  Colonial  Office,  in 
his  estimate  that  within  a  few  years  200,000  natives  had 
been  killed  in  various  risings  in  the  German  colonies. 
If  not,  the  numbers  have  been  sensibly  increased. 
Naturally,  therefore,  should  Germany's  African  atrocities 
be  considered  a  bar  against  giving  back  those  colonies,  the 
verdict  must  also  be  against  her  in  the  Pacific  when  it  is 
proposed  to  return  her  possessions  there.  It  is  only  a 
question  of  degree,  not  of  fact  or  foundation. 


CHAPTER  IX 

TRADE  AND   STRATEGY 

Germany  as  pedlar  and  planter.  DeutscJiland  tiber  Alles. 
German  thoroughness  in  duplicity.  Bolivian  dollars  and 
double  profits.  Stevenson  again.  German  thoughts  of  trade 
different  from  British.  Ruthless  cut-throat  competition. 
Sir  John  Thurston  and  the  German  trade  in  arms  and 
liquor.  Rise  of  German  companies.  The  Marshall  Islands 
and  Australian  threats.  German  shipping  subsidies. 
Australia  was  to  be  a  new  German  base.  Sympathy  of 
Marshall  Island  chiefs  with  Australia. 

GERMANY  in  the  Pacific,  as  may  be  seen,  was  at  first  a 
pedlar  and  then  a  planter.  Trade  came  before  tropical 
agriculture,  with  its  forced  native  labour.  But  in  all  the 
vast  ocean  which  gave  such  wonderful  profits  in  the  runs 
between  Valparaiso  and  Tahiti  and  on  to  Samoa  the  original 
German  merchants  found  none  of  their  compatriots. 
Godeffroy  &  Son  followed,  to  break  the  backs  and  cut  the 
throats  of  Germans  already  established,  but  it  was  only 
one  firm  supplanting  another  for  fortunes  that  should  have 
satisfied  both.  Even  on  the  dazzling  beaches  of  the 
island  groups  German  adventurers  were  hardly  found 
to  carry  on  the  great  game  ;  for  nearly  all  the  white  men 
were  of  other  nationalities,  and  they  were  ready  for  any- 
thing that  promised  an  easy  living.  But  it  was  still  trade 
that  the  German  firm  developed,  by  the  aid  of  an  army  of 
free  lances,  trade  with  weapons  in  its  hands  ;  and  Godeffroy 
&  Son  brooked  no  rivals.  Natives  everywhere  invited 
exploitation,  so  that  it  should  have  been  easy  to  live  and 


TRADE   AND  STRATEGY  89 

let  live  as  between  white  men.  But  from  the  commence- 
ment the  German  aim  was  monopoly.  Until  1870  and  its 
upset  Godeffroy  &  Son  would  be  supreme  ;  and  thereafter 
it  was  "  Deutschland  uber  alles."  Trade  meant  a  system 
of  barter  with  the  natives  ;  cocoa-nut  oil,  pearl  shell, 
beche-de-mer,  and  much  else,  were  obtained  in  exchange 
for  prints,  beads,  strong  drink,  hardware  of  sorts,  and  rifles 
and  ammunition.  But  everywhere  the  German  agent, 
more  often  British  and  American  than  German,  had  to 
drive  any  other  trader  out,  then  buy  a  piece  of  land  for 
the  firm,  be  sure  to  discredit  missionaries,  choose  a  native 
woman  for  himself,  and  represent  a  predatory  Fatherland 
as  much  to  the  life  as  possible.  On  certain  of  these  points 
Sterndale  is  clear,  though  he  keeps  well  in  mind  the  virtues 
and  long  arm  of  Theodor  Weber.  Island  after  island 
was  secured  in  this  way,  and  at  last  various  groups  were 
dominated.  Sterndale  says  :  "  An  examination  of  the 
chart  will  show  how  vast  was  the  scope  of  their  operations, 
when  we  come  to  consider  that  between  the  two  points 
Samoa  and  Yap  (which  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the 
Palos,  known  to  the  English  as  Pelew  Islands)  they  have, 
or  had  lately,  an  agent  in  their  employment  upon  every 
productive  island  inhabited  by  the  copper-coloured  race, 
upon  which  the  natives  are  as  yet  sufficiently  well-disposed 
to  permit  a  white  man  to  reside."  The  list  appended  by 
the  writer  of  the  above  statement  is  sufficiently  impressive 
as  showing  the  range  of  Godeffroy  interests  in  the  Pacific. 
One  development  opened  the  way  for  another,  as  in 
the  case  of  copra,  which  took  the  place  of  cocoa-nut  oil  as 
an  article  of  trade.  German  thoroughness  deserves  credit 
in  this  connection.  Theodor  Weber  and  his  assistants 
discovered  that  the  meat  of  the  cocoa-nut  dried  in  a  certain 


90  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

way  was  much  better  for  their  purpose  than  the  crudely 
expressed  oil ;  and  copra,  the  dried  cocoa-nut  meat,  came 
into  its  own  as  king  of  tropical  products.  It  was  not  that 
copra  in  itself  was  a  new  thing,  but  that  German  experi- 
ments and  improvements  with  it  opened  up  a  new  source 
of  profit  in  the  Pacific.  But  copra  could  not  be  obtained 
in  sufficiently  large  quantities  for  the  increasing  trade  and 
soaring  ambitions  of  the  firm.  Plantations  had  to  be 
made  on  a  large  scale.  Something  was  being  done  to 
stimulate  native  interest  and  energy  by  increasing  their 
wants,  but  they  did  not  make  enough  copra.  Meanwhile 
the  firm's  way  of  finance  became  less  and  less  scrupulous. 
This  was  crucial  for  Germany,  as  far  as  the  missionaries 
were  concerned,  because  the  Bolivian  debased  coin,  intro- 
duced and  practically  forced  upon  the  natives,  met  with 
the  sternest  opposition  from  the  Missionary  Societies. 
Sterndale  says  that  this  was  never  forgotten  and  never 
forgiven  by  the  German  managers.  Miss  Gordon  Gumming 
thus  describes  the  business  : — "  The  coin  chiefly  in  circula- 
tion here  (Samoa  in  1878)  is  the  Chilian  and  Bolivian 
dollar,  of  very  debased  silver,  commonly  known  in  the 
Pacific  as  '  iron  money.'  Its  introduction  was  one  of  the 
sharp  speculations  of  Messrs.  Godeffroy,  who  obtained  an 
enormous  amount  at  a  very  cheap  rate  and  therewith 
commenced  trade  with  the  Samoans,  who  accepted  the 
dollar  as  the  equivalent  of  100  cents.,  or  the  half-dollar 
as  50  cents.,  whereas  two  half-dollars,  or  one  whole,  are 
barely  worth  75  cents.  So  the  profit  on  this  little  job 
was  considerable — and  if  it  has  added  one  more  straw  to 
poor  Samoa's  burden  of  trouble,  that  is  no  concern  of  the 
traders."  *  No  doubt,  indeed,  Missionary  revenue  was 
*  "  A  Lady's  Cruise,"  p.  88. 


TRADE  AND  STRATEGY  91 

seriously  prejudiced  by  the  circulation  of  coins  of  which 
the  so-called  "  dollars "  and  "  half-dollars "  were  not 
worth  their  full  value  in  exchange.  Natives  making  copra 
were  paid  in  this  deceitful  money  and  then  gave  it  to  their 
missionaries  as  subscriptions,  with  the  result  that  while 
Godeffroy  &  Son  made  double  profit  out  of  the  transaction 
other  people  were  robbed  and  prejudiced.  A  controversy 
naturally  arose  between  the  merchant  firm  and  the  mission- 
aries ;  and  the  basis  of  it  was  the  question  whether  in  the 
Pacific  the  Ten  Commandments  should  receive  recognition, 
and  whether  one  of  the  foundation  principles  of  Christianity, 
as  defined  in  loving  one's  neighbour  as  oneself,  should 
govern  the  daily  life  of  Europeans  in  the  midst  of  multitudes 
of  defenceless  natives.  Germany,  through  its  Hamburg 
firm,  said  "  No,"  and  this  negative  has  governed  the  policy 
of  the  German  Imperial  authorities  ever  since. 

It  is  not  contended  that  the  story  of  German  trading 
enterprise  in  the  Pacific  is  all  drab  or  deadly  crimson. 
No  good  purpose  will  be  served  by  darkening  the  shadows 
or  withholding  the  truth  to  make  a  case.  Stevenson,  in 
"  A  Footnote  to  History,"  gives  credit  to  German  officials 
in  Samoa,  and  we  know  that  during  his  residence  there  he 
could  find  much  to  like  and  a  good  deal  to  admire  in  men  who 
were  often,  nevertheless,  giving  the  unfortunate  Samoans 
less  than  a  chance  to  reach  solid  ground.  Moreover, 
German  trade  and  industry  have  counted  in  the  making 
of  the  Pacific ;  and  rapacity  and  folly  were  not  German 
monopolies.  Individual  Britons  and  Americans  have  been 
sometimes  as  serious  nuisances  as  individual  Germans  of 
the  baser  sort.  But  the  question  here  is  the  spirit  which 
moved  Germany  in  her  activities  in  the  Pacific,  and  its 
effect  upon  the  natives  wherever  she  asserted  herself 


92  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

against  them.  It  was  a  spirit  of  arrogance  and  of  pure 
materialism.  Where  trade  was  concerned  it  was  all  for 
profit — no  matter  who  suffered  nor  what  cruelties  were 
practised.  Where,  in  the  wide  reaches  of  the  Pacific, 
the  larger  purpose  of  world-dominion  was  cherished  the 
strategic  plans  had  no  regard  to  national  claims,  or  to  the 
rights  of  white  men  or  dark.  With  regard  to  the  main 
argument  in  this  chapter,  the  German  thought  of  trade, 
and  of  the  natives  in  the  Pacific  as  a  means  of  increasing  it, 
has  ever  been  quite  different  from  the  British.  It  has 
always  been  low  and  brutal.  Thus  the  issue  of  the  Bolivian 
money  was  more  serious  then,  and  has  a  deeper  significance 
now,  than  is  realised.  It  covers  the  whole  spirit  of  German 
trading  enterprise  in  the  Pacific  between  1854  and  1914. 
For  sixty  years  there  was  a  development  in  trade  and 
industry,  begun  in  ruthless  cut-throat  competition,  con- 
tinued through  a  system  of  practical  slavery  and  oppression 
for  the  natives,  and  culminating  in  a  desperate  and  devilish 
design  to  suppress  and  destroy  everything  not  German  in 
trade,  commerce,  and  civilisation  throughout  the  widest 
of  the  world's  oceans.  This,  of  course,  was  but  part  of 
the  plan  for  world-dominion,  and  the  Australasian  argument 
against  Germany  is  that  she  cannot  be  regarded  as  one 
Power  in  Africa,  to  be  found  guilty  there  of  abominable 
crimes  against  the  native  races,  while  accepted  as  another 
Power  in  the  Pacific,  and  declared  to  be  not  guilty  of  similar 
enormities  because  the  evidence  is  not  written  out  in  such 
large  letters.  It  has  been  the  same  Germany,  and  the 
same  condemnation  must  be  given. 

But  the  development  of  German  trade  in  the  Pacific 
can  be  indicated  by  evidence  that  is  at  least  sufficiently 
conclusive  upon  the  main  question.  In  this  connection 


TRADE  AND   STRATEGY  93 

Sir  John  Thurston's  report  in  1886  may  be  quoted  again. 
He  had  been  obliged  to  meet  the  argument  for  German 
dominance  in  Samoa  by  pointing  out  that  Great  Britain 
would  not  permit  British  planters  to  import  native  labour 
into  islands  or  island  groups  not  flying  the  Union  Jack, 
and  that  consequently  British  plantations  could  not  show 
the  same  results  as  German  plantations.  But  the  claim 
was  made  for  German  trade,  by  Consul- General  Travers, 
that  it  was  twice  as  valuable  and  double  the  volume  of 
British  and  other  trade  put  together.  Germany,  therefore, 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  control  Samoa,  though  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  were  still  to  have  certain 
accepted  interests  in  the  group.  Sir  John  Thurston  and 
the  American  representative  on  the  Commission  both 
met  this  with  the  same  retort.  Godeffroy  &  Son's  successor, 
"The  Long  Handle  Firm,"  did  not  comprise  a  number, 
even  of  German  interests,  but  was  essentially  one,  and 
aimed  at  a  monopoly.  The  firm  was  permitted,  added 
Sir  John,  to  use  unfair  means  ;  first,  in  the  native  slave 
trade,  though  that  term  was  not  applied  except  by  infer- 
ence ;  and,  second,  in  that  British  traders  were  prevented 
from  selling  liquor  and  lethal  weapons  to  these  natives,  just 
as  British  planters  were  forbidden  to  import  native  labour 
to  non-British  territory.  Samoa  was  not  British,  but  it 
certainly  was  not  German.  The  mischief  of  Germany's 
policy  right  up  to  the  settlement  of  1900  lay  in  her  refusal 
to  be  bound  by  any  rule  of  right  or  reason  when  dealing 
with  the  Samoans,  for  not  only  did  she  sell  them  the  means 
of  destroying  each  other  in  the  ever-recurrent  native  wars, 
but  she  made  equal  profits  out  of  the  sale  of  liquor.  Sir 
John  Thurston's  report  runs :  "  British  and  American  resi- 
dents, when  discussing  the  question  of  the  predominating 


94  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

influence  claimed  and  sought  for  in  practice  by  Germans, 
make  the  following  observations  : — 

"  I. — That  German  trade  is  waning,  while  British  and 
American,  particularly  the  former,  is  increasing  ;  and 

" II. — That  British  interests  have  been  retarded  by 
the  disability  of  British  subjects  to  procure  Polynesian 
labourers,  and  to  sell  alcoholic  liquors,  arms,  and  ammuni- 
tion to  the  natives." 

Sir  John  Thurston  remarked  that  these  observations 
were  substantially  correct.  His  reference  to  the  native 
labour  question  has  already  been  given,  with  his  disinclina- 
tion to  discuss  the  matter  "  for  reasons  which  need  not 
here  be  entered  into."  His  comment  upon  German  trade 
runs  :  "  The  High  Commissioner  of  the  Western  Pacific 
has,  by  Regulation  issued  under  the  provisions  of  the 
Western  Pacific  Orders  in  Council,  made  it  a  penal  offence 
to  sell  or  give  such  articles  to  natives,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  of  the  humanity  and  sound  wisdom  of  such 
Regulation.  But  other  traders,  Germans  especially,  sell 
arms  and  ammunition  freely  and  thus  enjoy  an  immense 
advantage  over  British  subjects."  *  This,  again,  goes  to 
the  foundation  of  things,  for  it  marks  the  vital  difference 
between  German  and  British  policy  in  the  Pacific.  The 
German  was  there  for  trade — for  personal  profit  without 
regard  to  rights,  treaties,  or  the  Ten  Commandments. 
His  Government  was  behind  him  and  approved  of  his 
gospel  of  might.  The  British  traders  and  planters  were 
not  only  unaided  in  the  battle,  but  were  expressly  forbidden 
to  fight  with  German  weapons.  It  was  a  warfare  in  which 
reprisals  could  not  help  and  would  only  destroy  the  natives, 
for  whom,  however,  the  fighting  was  continued  by  diplo- 
*  Blue  Book,  "  On  Affairs  of  Samoa,"  1885—89,  p.  110. 


TRADE   AND  STRATEGY  95 

matic  protests  and  pressure — all  practically  useless  against 
a  Power  determined  to  get  its  way. 

Sir  John  Thurston  wrote  his  report,  which  later  on  was 
embodied  in  the  Blue  Book  on  Samoan  affairs,  nearly 
twelve  years  after  the  Sterndale  report  had  appeared.  A 
great  deal  had  happened  in  the  interval  since  1874 ;  and 
among  other  important  things  was  the  appearance  of 
another  German  company.  The  "  Deutsche  Handels  und 
Plantagen  Gesellschaft "  had  arisen,  after  the  foundation 
of  the  German  Empire  in  1871,  as  successor  to  Godeffroy 
&  Son  ;  and  when  Theodor  Weber  returned  from  Hamburg 
in  1875  to  resume  his  position  as  Imperial  German  Consul 
he  was  ready  to  meet  the  smash  of  1878  with  a  resurrection 
in  the  "  D.  H.  &  P.  G."— "  The  Long  Handle  Firm  "  for 
short.  There  was  still  plenty  for  him  and  for  it  to  do  in 
preparing  the  way  for  the  annexations  of  1884 ;  but  in 
the  year  following  the  hoisting  of  the  German  flag  in  New 
Guinea  and  the  Bismarck  Archipelago  another  company 
was  formed  in  the  "  Deutsche  New  Guinea  Kompagnie." 
This  German  New  Guinea  Company  grew  and  developed 
until  it  overshadowed  everything.  The  report  on  "  British 
and  Australian  trade  in  the  South  Pacific,"  issued  by  the 
Inter-State  Commission  of  Australia,  contains  much  infor- 
mation about  this  and  other  German  companies  which 
were  formed  to  exploit  the  wealth  of  the  islands  acquired 
by  the  German  Empire ;  and  what  has  been  said  of  the 
Godeffroy  firm  and  its  successor  is  true  of  all,  more  or  less. 
Great  plantations  became  the  natural  sequel  to  a  growing 
trade,  and  native  labour  was  applied  throughout  as  one 
of  the  details  in  creating  a  mighty  business.  While  the 
"  D.  H.  &  P.  G."  had  150,000  acres  in  Samoa,  the  German 
New  Guinea  Company  owned  357,000  acres  in  New  Guinea, 


96  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

controlling  "  the  largest  areas  of  plantations  in  the  Pacific."  * 
German  interests  interlaced  and  ramified,  always  under  the 
watchful  care  and  guidance  of  the  Imperial  Government. 
When  Australian  competition  became  dangerous,  however, 
it  was  a  German  company  which  took  up  the  responsibility 
of  breaking  an  agreement  with  Great  Britain  and,  in  its 
trade  equivalent,  hitting  below  the  belt.  The  Jaluit 
Company  stopped  Messrs.  Burns,  Philp  &  Co.,  but  Australian 
Governments  joined  hands  in  official  protest  and  Imperial 
Germany  had  to  pay  damages.  But,  had  it  been  a  matter 
merely  of  British  diplomatic  objection  and  arrangement, 
the  probability  is  that  once  more  an  abominable  wrong 
would  have  been  done  against  Australia  and  the  Empire. 
The  Jaluit  Company  would  have  pointed  to  its  technical 
observance  of  the  trading  provisions  of  the  Agreement  of 
1886,  in  that  German  vessels  were  made  to  pay  the  same 
terrific  imposts  as  Australian  vessels  trading  to  the  Marshall 
Islands,  and  that  might  have  been  the  end  of  it.  That 
the  Jaluit  Company  paid  its  levies  out  of  one  pocket  and 
put  them  into  another  would  not  have  mattered ;  and,  as 
it  happened,  the  Australian  Governments'  threats  at 
reprisals  and  the  British  Government's  consequent  demands 
did  not  even  then  bring  Germany  to  the  point  of  paying 
damages  until  some  years  had  elapsed,  j-  The  Jaluit 
episode  comes  in  the  natural  lineage  of  the  Bolivian  coin 
swindle,  and  the  spirit  behind  each  was  consistently  in 
evidence  from  the  middle  years  of  the  nineteenth  century 
to  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth. 

Behind  the  Companies,  of  necessity,  stood  the  Imperial 
German  Government,  unavowed  at  first  but  towards  the 

*  Inter-State  Commission  Report,  p.  110. 
t  "  The  New  Pacific,"  p.  256. 


TRADE  AND  STRATEGY  97 

end  quite  openly  sponsor.  Without  backing  from  Berlin 
there  could  not  have  been  the  building  of  a  Colonial  Empire, 
or  its  apology,  in  the  Pacific,  because  the  inevitable  compe- 
tition of  private  British  and  Australasian  firms  would  have 
kept  unfair  encroachments  within  bounds.  An  invaluable 
asset  for  German  traders  all  the  time  was  the  belief  of  the 
British  Government  in  Germany's  good  faith.  Although 
she  played  dirty  tricks  through  her  trading  companies 
and  flogged  the  natives  everywhere  into  making  her 
broad  plantations,  building  her  fine  administrative  centres, 
laying  out  her  wonderful  roads,  and  filling  in  vast  swamps, 
yet  she  could  not  be  meaning  to  do  any  real  wrong.  These 
were  only  setting  up  a  shining  mark  for  her  as  the  Power 
that  knew  how  to  do  things.  Even  when  she  subsidised 
her  steamship  companies  in  order  to  reinforce  the  trade 
syndicates  so  carefully  nursed,  there  was  no  protest  made. 
Great  Britain  declined  to  admit  that  honest  trade  was  being 
attacked  with  a  two-handed  sword,  or  even  with  an  assassin's 
stiletto.  Germany,  so  thorough  and  efficient,  was  only 
realising  herself  in  an  extending  commerce.  Moreover, 
was  not  Australian  wool  being  bought  to  be  carried  to 
Hamburg  and  Bremen  with  the  copra  from  German 
plantations  ?  So  German  steamers,  owned  by  powerful 
German  companies,  multiplied  in  Australian  harbours 
and  thrived  under  the  very  subsidies  which  made  it  impos- 
sible for  British-owned  vessels  to  compete  with  them,  or 
for  Australian  firms  to  extend  their  operations  in  the 
Pacific.  Before  war  broke  out  in  1914  Australia  herself 
had  been  spied  out,  measured,  and  marked  for  possession. 
This  was  to  come  with  actual  invasion  and  domination, 
but,  pending  the  final  word  for  war,  more  steamship 
invasions  were  projected  and  more  and  more  the  grip 

8.0.  H 


98  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

upon  Australian  mining  was  tightened.  All  this  was 
being  accompanied  by  the  preparation  of  strategic  points 
in  the  Pacific  for  naval  and  military  operations.  Wireless 
plants  were  established  and  bases  were  built,  for  purposes 
quite  evidently  unassociated  with  commerce  and  production 
as  such,  but  obviously  auxiliary  to  the  Government's 
interest  in  trading  companies  and  in  her  subsidies  to  ship- 
ping concerns  like  the  Norddeutscher  Lloyd.  Everything 
had  its  place  as  part  of  a  great  campaign  which  was  to 
culminate  in  the  possession  of  Australia  as  a  new  German 
base  for  the  Pacific,  to  form  a  convenient  addition  to  the 
Dutch  Indies,  soon  to  drop  like  ripe  fruit  into  the  Teuton's 
mouth. 

The  defeat  of  the  Jaluit  Company,  as  it  happened,  and 
with  it  the  forcing  of  the  German  Government's  hand, 
were  significant  of  the  greater  collapse  which  was  at  last 
completed  by  the  capture  of  all  German  possessions  in  the 
Pacific  by  Allied  expeditionary  forces.  But  there  is  one 
detail  which  may  be  given  here  as  again  illustrative  of  the 
whole  German  policy,  and  in  particular  of  the  German 
attitude  towards  the  natives.  It  may  be  remembered 
that  the  Jaluit  Company's  attempted  "  hold  up  "  was 
made  in  1904.  Now,  certain  of  the  native  chiefs  in  the 
Marshall  Islands  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  see  British 
trade  established  and  British  vessels  coming  and  going 
as  permanent  additions  to  the  business  of  the  group. 
One  of  these  chiefs,  Laelan,  wrote  on  behalf  of  his  colleagues 
to  Messrs.  Burns,  Philp  &  Co.,  when  the  trading  fees  were 
so  iniquitously  raised,  as  follows  :  "I  am  sorry  to  hear  that 
your  licence  has  been  raised  too  high  for  you  to  consider  it 
profitable  to  trade  here,  but  I  wish  to  say  that  you  will 
have  the  support  of  the  chiefs  in  the  Marshalls  should  you 


TRADE  AND   STRATEGY  99 

think  it  advisable  to  return.  We  will  make  copra  for 
your  vessel,  and  will  hold  same  until  January  7th  for  you. 
We  will  make  sufficient,  I  think,  to  give  you  300  tons  by 
then,  and  you  will  have  our  best  help."  * 

A  little  later  it  was  reported  from  the  Gilbert  Islands, 
a  British  possession,  that  another  of  the  Marshall  Island 
chiefs  who  had  been  visiting  there  had  said  that  the  Marshall 
Island  natives  were  quite  determined  to  abide  by  their 
promise  to  hold  their  copra  for  Messrs.  Burns,  Philp  &  Co. 
They  expected  that  the  Jaluit  Company  would  do  every- 
thing in  its  power  to  prevent  the  Ysdbel,  the  Australian 
vessel,  from  returning.     In  that  case  the  copra  would  not 
be  sold  to  the  Germans  but  would  be  prepared  for  food, 
so  earnest  were  the  natives  in  their  dislike  of  German  ways. 
The  German  retaliation,  however,  took  shape  in  forcing 
a  third  important  Marshall  Island  chief  into  exile.     The 
chief  in  question  was  born  in  Ocean  Island,   a  British 
possession,  of  an  Ocean  Island  mother ;    but  his  father 
was  a  Marshall  Island  chief  and  the  son  held  much  land 
in  the  group.     A  sworn  declaration  by  Mr.  John  Copeland 
before  a  Sydney  magistrate  set  forth  that  this  chief  had 
accompanied  the  Ysabel  on  her  first  voyage  round  the 
Marshalls,  thus  making  it  easy  to  trade.     This  was  a  crime 
in  German  eyes,  so  the  chief  was  persuaded  by  the  Germans 
to  visit  Butaitari  in  the  Gilbert  Islands,  and,  having  got 
him  there,  the  British  Commissioner  was  informed  that 
he  would  not  be  allowed  to  return.     The  alleged  reason 
was  that  having  an  Ocean  Island  mother  he  was  a  British 
subject ;    but  the  real  reason  was  that  he  had  shown 
sympathy  with  the  Australian  company,  and  the  action 
was  intended  to  intimidate  Marshall  Island  natives  who 
*  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  January  24th,  1905. 


100  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

were  inclined  the  same  way.  This  is  typical  of  the  German 
policy  right  through  the  Pacific,  except  that  other  means 
would  be  taken  to  discipline  mere  natives.  Chiefs  could 
be  deported  or  exiled  and  their  property  confiscated,  but 
for  the  rest  the  lash  or  the  rifle  were  sufficient  when 
deemed  necessary. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   SETTLEMENT   OF  SAMOA 

George  Brown  and  Stevenson.  Their  plan  of  settling 
Samoan  difficulties.  Some  Power  in  control  imperative. 
Germany  too  well  entrenched.  No  hope  from  Gladstone. 
Sir  George  Grey  turned  to  America.  Germany  in  possession. 
Native  lands  secured  to  Samoans.  Samoa  in  the  limelight. 
Dr.  Solf  given  a  free  hand  to  meet  the  difficulty.  Samoans 
given  representation  on  Council.  Samoa  never  developed 
by  Germany.  A  comfortable  British  anticipation  of 
exchange.  Stevenson  a  trustworthy  witness. 

ABOUT  a  year  before  he  died  in  1894,  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson,  in  the  midst  of  trouble  and  disturbance,  asked 
Dr.  Brown  to  help  him  as  he  struggled  with  the  problem 
of  Samoa's  future.  The  writer  of  stories,  suddenly  become 
statesman,  looked  to  the  missionary  for  advice ;  but  the 
latter  paused  before  replying.  "  No,"  he  said,  "  I  cannot 
give  you  any  help  by  word  of  mouth  in  these  doubtful 
and  difficult  times.  In  good  faith  you  may  quote  me  as 
saying  certain  things  in  the  course  of  conversation,  and  it 
may  do  much  harm  if  I  am  misinterpreted.  I  am  still 
engaged  in  Germany's  sphere  of  interest  and  activity, 
though  secretary  of  our  Mission  Board,  and  you  are  one  of 
Germany's  most  vigorous  critics.  Just  write  to  me  in  due 
form  whatever  you  want  to  know,  and  I  will  in  set  phrase 
reply  to  you.  If  you  quote  me  you  can  then  do  so  with 
the  written  word  to  fall  back  upon."  A  little  later  the 
letter  came.  Stevenson  recognised  the  force  of  the  con- 
tention ;  and  sitting  down  next  day  at  Vailima — this  was 


102  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

in  1893 — he  wrote,  characteristically  leaving  the  date  to 
take  care  of  itself. 

"  DEAR  DR.  BROWN, — You  have  been  all  round  our 
distracted  islands  ;  and  as  a  man  of  something  like 
thirty  years'  experience,  I  venture  to  ask  you  for  an 
opinion,  not  so  much  as  to  the  present  state,  about 
which  two  opinions  are  scarcely  possible,  but  rather 
as  to  the  chances  of  establishing  any  form  of  settled 
government,  or  of  permanent  and  tolerable  unsettled 
government,  such  as  undoubtedly  existed  in  the  past. 
Our  present  course  is  certainly  downward ;  and  if 
anything  is  to  be  done  at  all  with  these  islands,  it 
seems  beyond  a  doubt  that  some  change  of  policy 
must  ensue.  What  that  change  of  policy  should  be 
I  beg  to  ask  of  your  long  and  continuous  experience 
in  these  islands. 

"  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"  ROBERT  Louis  STEVENSON." 

This  puts  into  a  strong  light  the  Imperialist  who  was 
still  first  and  foremost  a  missionary,  and  the  writer  of  "  A 
Footnote  to  History "  (then  twelve  months  published) 
who  was  mightily  concerned  to  see  a  settlement  of  Samoa 
in  some  stable  way  of  government.  Only  the  war  with 
Germany  has  made  a  disclosure  and  free  discussion  of  the 
minds  of  these  two  lovers  of  Samoa  either  possible  or 
advisable  ;  but  the  policy  pursued  by  Germany  there, 
since  she  was  given  a  free  hand  in  1900  by  the  other  Powers 
concerned,  cannot  be  understood  without  them.  Now 
in  a  letter  from  Apia,  dated  July  15th,  1877,  Dr.  Brown 
gives  expression  to  the  feeling  which  inspired  the  form  of 
his  reply  to  Stevenson.  He  had  been  away  from  Samoa 


THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  SAMOA        103 

nearly  two  years  in  New  Britain,  and  Stevenson  had  not 
then  appeared  on  the  scene,  nor  was  he  due  for  another 
decade  and  more.     But  so  impressed  was  Dr.  Brown  in 
1877  with  the  uncertain  outlook  in  Samoa,  which  he  was 
revisiting,  that  he  wrote  to  the  secretary  of  the  Mission 
Board  in  Sydney  :    "  The  natives  fought  the  day  before 
we  arrived.     The  Government  party  entrapped^the  Malietoa 
party  and  in  one  fight  completely  conquered  them.  .  .  . 
There  is,  in  my  opinion,  no  hope  for  Samoa  except  from 
without,  and  I  do  most  heartily  desire  that  the  group  may 
be  united  to  Fiji  and  placed  under  British  rule.     I  firmly 
believe  that  this  will  take  place  before  long,  in  fact  it  will 
become  a  necessity."     This  was  probably  about  the  time 
that  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  was  so  much  exercised  over  Samoa 
and  was  reaching  the  point  of  taking,  or  refusing  to  take, 
action  towards  annexation.     Let  it  always  be  remembered, 
however,  that  the  firm  of  Godeffroy  &  Son  was  using 
these  native  quarrels  to  serve  its  own  ends.     It  was  acquir- 
ing large  tracts  of  land  in  exchange  for  the  very  arms  and 
ammunition  which    provoked  warfare    and    extended   it. 
Nothing  roused  Dr.  Brown's  indignation  like  the  recollec- 
tion of  this  traffic,  in  which  not  land  alone  but  human  lives 
and  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  Samoa  were  at  stake.     But 
meanwhile  he  learned  to  know  Germany  in  Samoa,  and 
the  letter  he  wrote  to  Stevenson  in  reply  to  his  request  for 
advice  was  couched  in  terms  which  must  have  kept  the 
land  question  in  the  foreground.     The  first  thing  that 
Dr.  Solf  did  when  exercising  his  powers  as  Governor  of 
Samoa  was  to  stop  the  alienation  of  land  ;   Stevenson  and 
George  Brown  had  not  put  their  heads  together  in  vain. 
But  for  them  the  first  thing  was  to  secure  settled  govern- 
ment.    The  text  of  Dr.  Brown's  letter  is  not  available  to 


104  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

the  present  writer,  as  a  copy  of  it  could  not  be  found  when 
the  question  of  definite  detail  was  raised.  But  Dr.  Brown 
was  emphatic  in  his  remembrance  that  he  was  concerned 
to  help  the  Samoans  while  serving  Stevenson  ;  and  to  that 
end  he  counselled  patience,  not  only  for  Stevenson  himself 
and  the  native  chiefs,  but  for  any  Power  that  ultimately 
obtained  possession  of  the  group. 

In  1893  both  Stevenson  and  his  adviser  had  lost  hope 
of  a  British  acquisition  of  Samoa,  even  at  the  expense  of 
interests  surrendered  elsewhere.  Germany  was  too  well 
entrenched.  At  that  time,  too,  Gladstone  was  Prime 
Minister  and  his  Home  Rule  Bill  was  engrossing  attention. 
Dr.  Brown,  like  so  many  other  pioneers  in  the  Pacific,  had 
no  faith  in  Gladstone  as  an  Imperialist,  because,  however 
convincing  on  occasion  his  speeches  might  be,  his  actions 
did  not  tally  with  them.  But  the  missionary  in  those  days 
remembered  that  the  British  Prime  Minister  was  a  very 
old  man,  and  it  was  unlikely  that  he  would  pursue  any 
policy  of  foreign  adventure,  however  ready  he  might  be 
to  attempt  to  settle  Irish  difficulties  by  a  great  coup.  Yet 
Dr.  Brown  was  certain  that,  since  the  Samoans  could  never 
be  trusted  to  govern  themselves,  stable  government  for 
Samoa  could  only  be  secured  through  one  or  other  of  the 
Powers.  How  the  problem  would  work  out,  and  which 
Power  would  obtain  final  control,  was  another  matter ; 
but  Stevenson  certainly  was  not  encouraged  to  hope  much 
from  either  of  the  great  rival  Samoan  chiefs.  Nor  did 
he  trust  Germany.  His  whole  experience  in  Samoa 
prompted  him  to  challenge  her  and  to  expose  her  practices. 
In  this  respect  he  and  Sir  George  Grey  were  at  one.  The 
latter  was  appealed  to  by  Malietoa  Laupepa  before  his 
deportation  from  Samoa  to  the  Marshall  Islands  in  1887. 


THE   SETTLEMENT  OF  SAMOA        105 

The  4i  paper  king,"  as  Stevenson  in  effect  called  him,  had 
crumpled  up  in  Germany's  hands,  and  had  to  be  thrown 
into  a  corner  away  from  the  scene  of  his  immediate  troubles ; 
but  before  the  end  came,  in  his  distress  he  put  out  his  hands 
to  Sir  George  Grey,  who  counselled  patience.  Malietoa 
Laupepa  must  possess  his  soul.  He  must  remember  that 
Germany  was  strong  and  unscrupulous,  and  that  it  would 
be  futile  to  fight ;  and  the  Samoan  chief  realised  the  wisdom 
of  the  advice  then,  though  later  on  he  acted  foolishly.  But 
the  hurricane  of  1889  disarmed  Bismarck,  and  Sir  George 
Grey  rejoiced  exceedingly.  He  even  reminded  Malietoa 
that  the  policy  of  patience  had  borne  due  fruit.  But  he 
had  lost  faith  in  Great  Britain  as  a  Power  to  be  reckoned 
with  hi  the  Pacific.  He  looked  now  to  the  United  States 
to  bring  order  out  of  the  Samoan  chaos,  and  he  praised 
American  breadth  and  strength  in  an  extending  influence 
and  power.  Yet  neither  Sir  George  Grey  nor  Dr.  Brown 
at  the  time  realised  that  Germany  and  the  United  States 
would  divide  Samoa  between  them,  though  they  could 
see  that  Great  Britain  would  not  accept  further  responsi- 
bility. Only  seven  years  later  than  Dr.  Brown's  reply  to 
Stevenson's  letter  the  missionary's  old  homes  in  Savaii 
and  Upolu  became  part  of  the  new  possessions  of  Germany. 
True,  however,  to  his  single-minded  purpose  to  serve 
and  save  the  Samoans  and  all  other  natives  within  the 
German  sphere  of  control,  he  maintained  a  steady  course 
and  worked  as  far  as  possible  with  German  officials  every- 
where. Under  his  supervision  German  missionaries  were 
taken  upon  the  staff  in  the  Bismarck  Archipelago,  and 
Berlin  was  accepted  as  the  great  centre  of  reference.  Thus 
it  happened  that  Dr.  Brown  was  able  to  exercise  much 
influence  in  the  German  reaches  of  the  Pacific,  though  he 


106  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

never  ceased  to  use  his  knowledge  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Empire  to  which  he  belonged  as  citizen  and  patriot. 
Mrs.  Strong  has  been  quoted  as  claiming  that  Stevenson's 
plan  of  salvation  for  Samoa  was  adopted  by  Germany. 
Dr.  Brown's  counsel  was  for  a  recognition  of  the  claims  of 
Samoans  to  a  measure  of  self-government ;  but  he  always 
insisted  that  without  their  lands  they  could  never  be 
controlled.  Stevenson  knew  the  Samoan  mind  in  these 
directions ;  and,  moreover,  the  experience  with  native 
lands  and  native  chiefs  in  Fiji  was  ever  in  evidence.  Con- 
sequently, he  reached  the  conclusion  that  while  Germany 
might  obtain  possession  of  the  group  she  could  never  hold 
the  Samoans,  short  of  killing  them  out,  unless  she  accepted 
the  inevitable  preliminaries  to  a  settlement. 

Stevenson  and  George  Brown,  then,  agreed  that  the 
only  way  to  deal  with  Samoa  was  by  placing  the  quarrelling 
chiefs  under  some  strong  Power — the  United  States  for 
preference.  Next,  the  natives  must  be  protected  against 
themselves  by  preserving  their  remaining  lands  from  aliena- 
tion. Finally,  their  capacity  for  self-government  must  be 
recognised,  and,  as  in  Fiji,  their  tribal  organisation  must  be 
used  to  forward  the  purposes  of  administration.  What  most 
impresses  the  student  of  Samoan  history  to-day,  as  he  con- 
siders these  lines  as  laid  down  by  the  two  white  men  who 
knew  the  Samoans  so  well,  is  the  practical  unity  of  the  people 
through  their  language  and  customs.  Those  who  scoff  at 
the  work  of  the  missionaries  must,  at  least,  admit  their 
wonderful  success  in  formulating  the  languages  of  the  Pacific 
and  in  thus  bringing  a  new  power  into  play  for  the  white 
man's  service.  Both  in  Fiji  and  Samoa  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  into  a  common  language  for  each  group  made 
the  work  of  Great  Britain  and  Germany  infinitely  easier. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  SAMOA       107 

The  world's  lessons  of  sea  power  were  learned  in  those 
groups  long  before  Mahan  preached  the  gospel  of  its 
influence  upon  history ;  and  the  language  question  was 
also  seen  to  be  intimately  involved  in  the  possession  of 
islands  in  strategic  positions.  For  the  centres  of  power 
were  not  the  large  islands,  but  small  ones  strategically 
situated.  For  instance,  Savaii,  the  largest  island  in  Samoa, 
was  not  the  most  important,  but  Manono,  since  the  latter, 
though  small,  was  a  naval  base.  Originally  the  chief  who 
controlled  Samoa  made  Manono  his  residence  and  Apolima, 
a  rocky  islet  near  by,  his  fortress  ;  because  with  a  fleet  of 
war  canoes  he  could  descend  upon  the  coast  wherever 
he  pleased.  The  natives  in  other  islands  were  thus  never 
sure  when  they  might  not  be  attacked.  So  in  Fiji,  Bau 
was  the  strategic  centre,  though  one  of  the  smallest  islands 
of  the  group.  Thakombau  ruled  a  great  part  of  his  kingdom 
from  that  point ;  and  until  the  missionaries  obtained 
foothold  upon  Bau,  after  many  years,  their  hopes  of 
christianising  Fiji  were  not  fulfilled.  It  was  not  always 
conquest,  but  safety,  that  governed  the  situation ;  and 
in  this  respect  the  relation  of  the  small  islands  to  the  great 
ones  was  like  that  of  Great  Britain  to  Europe. 

This  question  raises  the  issue  of  the  language  difficulties 
of  the  Pacific.  Samoa  itself  was  hardly  a  source  of  trouble 
through  varying  dialects  ;  and  once  the  London  Missionary 
Society  had  done  its  work  through  the  Rev.  George  Pratt 
and  others  in  providing  a  translation  of  the  Bible  the  last 
obstacle  was  cleared  away.  The  domination  of  powerful 
chiefs  and  the  comparatively  limited  range  of  the  groups 
made  it  possible  to  keep  the  Samoans  one  people  in  language 
as  they  were  one  in  blood,  thought,  and  habit.  Sea  power 
was  thus  a  strong  factor  in  unification,  though  it.  never 


108  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

prevented  the  Samoan  tendency  to  break  up  into  clans 
and  coteries  determined  to  exercise  and  enjoy  the  fullest 
local  freedom.  In  Fiji  there  was  a  difficulty  at  first  with 
varying  dialects  until  the  Bau  dialect  was  made  the  stan- 
dard, because  the  coast  and  inland  natives  were  not  con- 
trolled together,  either  by  Thakombau  or  by  any  other 
great  chief,  before  the  missionaries  came.  When,  however, 
the  Fijian  Bible  was  finally  given,  through  the  grand  work 
of  Cross  and  Cargill,  Hunt,  Lyth,  Moore,  Hazel  wood, 
Langham,  and  others,  the  way  was  open  and  Fiji  has  since 
become  one  in  language.  Elsewhere  in  the  Pacific  the 
difficulties  have  been  infinitely  greater  owing  to  a  diversity 
of  tongues,  and  Germany's  plans  of  campaign  against  the 
natives  were  correspondingly  easier.  It  was  another  case 
of  "  Divide  et  impera." 

Hence,  when  Stevenson  formulated  his  scheme  for 
dealing  with  the  natives,  he  was  able  to  leave  for  Germany's 
consideration,  and  for  the  appreciation  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  certain  propositions  for  the  successful 
control  of  Samoa.  That  Germany  adopted  them  is  to  her 
credit,  but  it  may  be  urged  that  there  was  nothing  else 
to  do.  Samoa  was  in  the  limelight.  The  group  was  not 
in  shadow,  with  native  tribes  speaking  different  tongues 
wherever  the  white  man  wandered,  and  with  chiefs  exer- 
cising authority  only  as  far  as  the  village  areas  went. 
Germany  had  bitter  experience  of  the  fighting  qualities 
of  the  Samoans  by  means  of  the  large  control  of  powerful 
chiefs,  and  it  was  perfectly  clear  that  Great  Britain's 
method  of  governing  Fiji  must  be  practised  or  paralleled 
in  Samoa.  Thus  Dr.  Solf  visited  Fiji,  and  then  put  into 
force  the  recommendations  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson, 
with  George  Brown  behind  him.  The  natives  to-day  still 


THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  SAMOA       109 

possess  large  areas  of  good  land  which  they  cultivate  at 
the  foothills  in  the  various  islands.  It  is  estimated  by 
those  who  know  that  much  of  it  is  better  than  the  best 
now  in  German  hands.  The  Samoans  soon  settled  down, 
satisfied  with  the  new  regime  on  this  score  alone  ;  but  they 
were  given,  through  their  great  chiefs,  a  share  in  the 
administration  of  the  group  in  German  control.  Like 
the  British  planters  the  Samoans  were  represented  on  the 
Council,  and  until  a  Prussian  administration  was  initiated, 
two  years  before  the  war,  there  was  apparently  neither 
oppression  nor  outrage.  But  when  Prussian  officials 
began  to  tramp  about  the  Samoans  grew  restive.  It  was 
forbidden  to  import  medicines  any  more  from  abroad,  and 
the  German  chemists  alone  could  provide  what  was  wanted. 
Prohibitive  prices  were  being  charged,  and  serious  resent- 
ment was  felt  at  a  change  which  threatened  a  thousand 
small  disabilities  and  many  great  ones  in  the  daily  round 
of  life.  But  as  long  as  the  British  recommendations  were 
followed  and  liberty  in  due  proportion  was  allowed,  the 
Samoans  had  little  to  complain  about,  and  many  of  them 
still  look  upon  Germany  as  a  friend. 

To  argue  from  this  that  Germany  succeeded  in  Samoa, 
and  that  henceforth  she  may  be  trusted  to  behave  like  a 
civilised  nation,  is  to  forget  that  her  record  has  nowhere 
been  good.  Even  in  Samoa  after  1900  she  was  feared  by 
the  natives  and  hated  by  the  Chinese.  She  was  ready  to 
deport  a  British  missionary  to  secure  something  in  his 
possession  which  could  not  be  obtained  by  legitimate 
means ;  and  only  the  fear  of  publicity  at  the  hands  of  a 
white  man,  whom  she  knew  might  well  prove  another 
Stevenson  for  persistence,  altered  the  programme.  Would 
the  Samoans  have  been  likely  to  remain  undisturbed  after 


110  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

a  world  war  in  which  Germany  proved  victorious  ?  Samoa, 
as  a  group,  has  never  been  developed  as  German  instinct 
suggested.  Even  its  trading  possibilities  were  neglected, 
and  British  planters  lived  in  comfortable  anticipation  of 
an  exchange  which  would  let  the  Union  Jack  be  flown  over 
the  group.  Samoa,  therefore,  could  not  fairly  be  quoted 
at  the  Peace  Conference  as  a  fine  example  in  the  government 
of  a  native  race  by  those  who  would  plead  for  a  return  of 
German  colonies  in  the  Pacific.  The  essential  thing  to 
keep  in  mind  is  the  history  of  Germany's  devious  ways 
when  Samoa  was  to  be  possessed  ;  and  Stevenson,  in  this 
connection,  becomes  an  authority  that  cannot  be  ignored. 
He  never  trusted  Germany,  though  he  freely  admitted  the 
fine  qualities  of  individual  German  administrators  even  in 
the  eight  years  between  1884  to  1892.  "  A  Footnote  to 
History  "  is  not  all  diatribe  against  or  attack  upon  Germany 
in  the  person  of  her  nationals,  though  even  there  too 
much  must  not  be  inferred.  Our  experience  of  the  German 
people  in  the  war  is  warning  enough  ;  but  long  before  the 
war  the  actual  practice  of  Germans  in  charge  of  a  great 
trading  enterprise,  with  Samoa  as  its  centre,  shows  that 
duplicity  and  ruthlessness  are  ingrained  in  the  German 
character.  When  the  vision  is  widened,  however,  and 
German  administration  and  habits  are  studied  where 
natives  in  the  Pacific  were  defenceless  the  indictment 
grows  more  searching  and  conviction  becomes  settled 
against  Germany  as  a  neighbour  anywhere  in  the  wide 
waters  of  that  ocean.  Let  Stevenson  and  others  speak  of 
what  they  saw  in  Samoa.  Stevenson,  at  any  rate,  must 
be  treated  as  a  trustworthy  witness  of  ways  that  were 
devious,  and  practices  that  were  cruel  and  unrelenting 
by  a  Power  claiming  to  be  above  criticism  and  suspicion. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   TWO   IDEALS 

German  and  British  ideals  in  better  perspective.  Report 
of  the  Australian  Inter-State  Commission.  Mr.  C.  H. 
Hughes's  evidence  against  Germany.  Analogy  to  the  Stern- 
dale  Report.  Captain  Strasburg's  favourable  testimony. 
Commission's  Report  a  purely  business  document.  Chinese 
in  Samoa.  German  New  Guinea  Company.  Are  there  no 
spiritual  or  moral  forces  behind  business  operations ! 
Germany's  study  of  Malaysia.  Australia  and  the  Dutch 
East  Indies. 

IT  is  now  possible  to  present  the  German  and  the  British 
ideal  in  more  definite  perspective,  but  there  are  still 
manifest  difficulties.  The  documents  remain  in  the  way. 
German  apologists  will  undoubtedly  make  pretty  play 
with  British  and  other  Blue  Books  to  prove  that  German 
commerce  and  production  in  the  Pacific  has  not  really 
contravened  any  British  rule  or  code,  since  British  opinion 
has  been  couched  in  the  terms  of  envy  rather  than  of 
invective.  Possibly  the  report  of  the  Inter-State  Commis- 
sion of  Australia  on  the  trade  of  the  South  Pacific  will  be 
used  with  more  effect  in  this  connection  than  any  of  its 
predecessors  along  the  lines  of  official  inquiry.  It  is  a 
perfectly  judicial  document,  issued  by  a  Board  whose 
president  is  a  barrister  of  repute  with  a  remarkable  record, 
in  that  he  had  been  chosen  as  a  judge  of  the  High  Court 
of  Australia  and  declined  to  ratify  the  appointment.  No 
better  guarantee  of  ability  and  sound  judgment  could  be 
offered.  This  report,  therefore,  might  well  have  become 
ammunition  for  German  representatives  at  the  Peace 


112  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

Conference  if  it  could  be  shown  to  be  silent  about  German 
atrocities  in  the  Pacific,  and  if  it  had  practically  nothing  to 
say  about  the  great  moral  ideals  which  have  been  in  conflict 
in  the  ocean  since  Godeffroy  &  Son  drove  the  pioneers  of 
German  trade  therein  to  the  wall.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
almost  the  only  adverse  reference  to  Germany's  treatment 
of  the  natives  and  of  the  imported  Chinese  is  contained  in 
the  quotation  from  the  report  already  given.*  Mr.  C.  H. 
Hughes,  representing  the  Union  Steamship  Company- 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  important  shipping  companies 
in  the  Pacific — has,  quite  briefly,  added  his  witness  to  the 
evils  of  a  system  that  has  been  as  ruthless  and  brutal 
throughout  that  ocean  as  in  the  continent  of  Africa. 
Mr.  C.  H.  Hughes,  too,  points  out  that  he  has  no  special 
interest  in  the  island  groups.  His  Company  is  neither 
planter  nor  merchant,  and  therefore  is  not  concerned  about 
the  disabilities  of  trading  and  planting  in  the  islands. 
Nor  is  it  subsidised  to  carry  mails  to  and  from  Fiji  or 
Samoa.  Thus  the  evidence  of  this  witness  is  worth  a  good 
deal  and  cannot  be  discounted,  as  some  of  the  rest  may  be, 
by  the  personal  interests  of  those  involved.  But  the  point 
is  that  there  is  practically  no  direct  evidence  upon  German 
humanitarian  ideals — evidence  given  in  detail,  with 
examples,  and  tested  by  cross-examination — throughout 
the  whole  report  of  the  Australian  Inter-State  Commission. 
In  some  respects  it  is  like  the  Sterndale  report  of  1874  ; 
for  according  to  it  Captain  Strasburg,  in  1917,  gave  evidence 
before  the  Commission  that  native  labour  for  Samoa  was 
easily  obtained,  that  the  recruiting  vessels  filled  up  quickly, 
and  that  "  boys  "  who  had  been  there  once  were  quite 
ready  to  go  again.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  "  D.  H. 
*  See  ante,  pp.  66,  67. 


THE  TWO  IDEALS  113 

&  P.  G.  "  could  alone  recruit  from  the  Solomons  and  other 
German  possessions,  and  that  before  the  war  Chinese  were 
brought  from  the  German  area  of  control  in  China  to  Samoa. 
British  and  individual  German  planters  in  Samoa  had  to 
go  afield.  Thus  the  curious  power  of  the  "  Long  Handle 
Firm  "  is  again  indicated,  and  one  would  like  to  sift  out 
the  evidence  about  it  in  a  dozen  different  directions.  But 
the  Inter-State  Commission  Report  helps  not  at  all. 

The  reply,  no  doubt,  is  that  it  is  a  business  document, 
like  the  New  Zealand  Blue  Book  of  1874.  Its  range  of 
inquiry  was  limited  to  British  and  Australian  trade  in  the 
South  Pacific  ;  and  Germany  only  comes  in  as  threatening 
in  the  past  to  strangle  our  trade  or  as  likely  in  the  future  to 
prejudice  its  development.  Hence  the  mass  of  interesting 
material  contained  in  the  evidence  is  digested  and  presented 
in  the  report,  not  so  much  because  it  offers  a  case  against 
Germany,  but  rather  as  information  to  guide  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia  when  dis- 
cussing the  trade,  commerce,  and  production  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  at  the  Peace  Conference.  Moreover,  the  native 
labour  question  is  a  very  thorny  one  for  planters  of  all 
nationalities.  Australian  and  British  capital  has  been 
invested  in  German  possessions,  both  in  Samoa  and  the 
Solomons  ;  and  German  control  of  native  labour,  with 
German  discipline,  had  simplified  the  problem  of  production 
for  those  concerned.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  in  Samoa,  for 
instance,  British  planters  who  have  been  depending  on 
Chinese  labour  are  likely  to  be  in  a  parlous  plight  now  if 
under  New  Zealand  administration  the  coolies  are  to  be 
sent  back  to  China  as  part  of  a  policy  of  repatriation. 
The  Samoans  do  not  work  willingly,  and,  indeed,  do  not 
need  to  work.  As  they  proved  insufficient  the  Chinese 

S.G.  I 


114  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

have  been  brought  in,  and  now  the  problem  for  the  planters 
is — how  to  replace  them.  Samoan  chiefs  are  declared  to 
have  protested  against  the  presence  of  Chinese  in  the 
group  and  are  understood  to  have  complained  that  native 
women  were  being  interfered  with.  If  this  be  the  basis 
upon  which  action  has  been  taken,  the  official  affirmation 
may  come  with  the  actual  return  of  coolies  to  China,  and 
at  the  expense  of  the  white  planters.  But,  whether  or  no, 
the  business  men  who  gave  evidence  before  the  Inter-State 
Commission  in  Australia  were  more  concerned  with  the 
future  than  the  past.  They  showed  that  German  commerce 
was  a  wonderfully  organised  thing,  that  everywhere 
Germany  stood  behind  her  traders  and  planters,  that  a 
system  of  shipping  subsidies  was  working  like  a  great  gun 
upon  a  specially  prepared  emplacement,  and  that  there 
was  much  in  German  methods  to  read,  mark,  learn,  and 
inwardly  digest.  As  sheer  business  the  German  policy 
for  extending  trade  and  increasing  production  was  felt 
to  be  eminently  successful.  The  "  D.  H.  &  P.  G."  paid 
a  dividend  just  before  the  war  of  36  per  cent.,  "  the  rate 
of  dividend  having  gradually  risen  from  8  per  cent.,  the 
amount  paid  in  1900."  *  As  to  the  German  New  Guinea 
Company — with  a  share  capital  of  £375,000  and  reserve 
funds  of  £132,500 — "  its  receipts  from  its  sale  of  products 
and  from  its  trading  business  for  the  twelve  months  ending 
March,  1913,  amounted  to  £147,138."  f  Naturally  the 
Australian  witnesses  were  anxious  to  show  how  Germany's 
policy  was  bearing  fruit  in  sharpening  competition.  But 
the  Inter- State  Commission  Report  deals  with  the  various 
phases  of  this  trade  war  without  indulging  in  adverse 

*  Inter-State  Commission  Report,  p.  109. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  109. 


THE  TWO  IDEALS  115 

criticism.  Shipping  subsidies  may  still  be  legitimate 
business ;  and  particulars  are  given  of  Government 
assistance,  other  than  the  German,  in  the  Dutch  and 
Japanese  subsidies  to  lines  of  steamers  running  in  the 
Pacific.  Before  the  war  it  was  all  vigorous  trading  enter- 
prise on  Germany's  part ;  and  after  1914  the  business  men 
of  Australia  have  looked  back  to  remember  what  a  complete 
system  had  been  built  up  by  German  thoroughness  and 
attention  to  detail.  They  are  hardly  to  be  blamed  for  this. 
Whether  as  planters  or  traders  they  have  to  make  profits 
or  fall  out  of  the  ranks,  and  the  employment  of  native 
labour  under  a  milder  British  administration  certainly 
makes  it  harder  to  thrive  than  under  the  German  method 
of  placing  the  white  man  on  a  throne  and  regarding  the 
brown  man  as  his  slave.  Thus  the  German  apologist 
before  the  Peace  Conference  would  not  have  objected  to 
quote  from  the  Report  of  the  Australian  Inter-State 
Commission,  because  he  would  proceed  to  read  into  its 
marshalled  facts  and  careful  conclusions  a  tribute  to  success 
with  little  qualification  or  discount. 

The  sharpness  of  contrast  between  German  and  British 
ideals  cannot  be  brought  out  by  quotations  from  these 
official  documents.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  for  the  cynic 
to  deny  that  there  are  any  spiritual  or  moral  forces  behind 
business  as  such.  All  business  men,  therefore,  are  on  one 
level  and  the  German  is  as  good  as  the  Briton.  But  the 
truth  about  German  methods,  throwing  light  upon  German 
intentions  and  purposes,  may  be  found  in  other  ways, 
just  as  the  British  love  for  fair  play  and  even-handed 
justice  may  be  discerned  by  contrast.  Mr.  Poultney 
Bigelow  puts  the  whole  thing  clearly  in  his  "  Prussian 
Memories."  When  travelling  through  to  the  Pacific  in 

i2 


116  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

the  decade  before  1914  he  found  Germans  everywhere 
setting  up  a  German  kingdom  and  already  putting  the 
rest  of  the  world  in  outer  darkness.     "  In  my  three  journeys 
to  the  Far  East  since  the  accession  of  the  present  Emperor," 
he  says,  "  I  have  noted  the  distinct — I  had  almost  said  the 
violent — progress  of  German  prestige  east  of  Suez  and  west 
of  California,  owing  to  the  energy  with  which  the  Berlin 
Government  was  carrying  out  the  great  oratorical  dictum 
that  Germany's  future  lay  upon  the  water.     Where  formerly 
all  white  people  in  the  Far  East  united  in  one  social  centre, 
not  merely  for  sport  but  also  self-defence,  if  need  be,  the 
policy  of  1888  showed  itself  in  clubs  where  only  Germans 
came  together  and  where  the  one  congenial  theme  was  the 
prospective  triumph  of  the  German  language  over  the 
English  as  a  medium  of  intercourse  with  Chinese,  Malay, 
and  Hindoo.     Even  on  a  German  Government  steamer 
carrying  the  British  mail  between  Hong  Kong  and  Bangkok 
I  found  two  tables  in  the  main  saloon,  one  for  Germans 
only,  and  the  other  for  the  cosmopolitan  white,  under 
which  term  I  seek  to  designate  the  sort  of  man  who  makes 
an  agreeable  travelling  or  club  companion  in  every  part 
of   the    world.     The    Swede,    Norwegian,    Dane,    Dutch, 
Belgian,  Russian,  American,  Turk — all  these  may  blend 
harmoniously  in  a  Far  Eastern  club,  and  each  contributes 
to  relieve  the  common  tedium  after  office  hours.     But 
enter  a  German,  and  we  know  him  by  a  metaphorical  chip 
on  his  shoulder  and  a  tacit  assertion  that  what  other 
members  regard  as  social  privileges  he  intends  to  claim  as 
legal  rights."  * 

German  subsidised  mail  steamers  impressed  Mr.  Bigelow 

*  "Prussian  Memories;1  by  Poultney  Bigelow,  M.A,,  F.B.G.S., 
p.  125. 


THE  TWO  IDEALS  117 

with  their  manifest  German  purpose.  "  Not  only  to  North 
American  ports,  but  to  Mediterranean  as  well  as  to  African, 
Australian,  Chinese,  and  Japanese  ports  also,  the  German 
flag  showed  itself  more  and  more  aggressive — each  flag 
representing  not  merely  the  thrift  of  German  merchants 
but  a  potential  auxiliary  cruiser  commanded  by  officers 
of  the  German  naval  reserve  and  a  crew  trained  to  handle 
guns  at  the  porthole  no  less  than  soup  tureens  and  beer- 
mugs  in  the  steward's  department."  Careful  trade  organi- 
sation and  the  shrewdest  attention  to  detail,  in  creating 
a  demand  for  German  goods,  went  hand  in  hand  with  the 
forcing  of  a  world  policy  which  was  to  leave  German 
Kultur  and  the  German  language  supreme,  with  the 
German  heel  on  every  neck  and  German  society  reserved 
for  genuine  sons  of  the  Fatherland.  Mr.  Bigelow  wrote 
his  book  before  the  United  States  came  into  the  war,  and 
he  was  not  a  mere  outside  student  of  German  ways.  He 
had  lived  in  Germany  and  could  speak  German  so  well 
that  he  had  some  difficulty  on  one  occasion  in  his  youth, 
when  arrested  near  Strasburg,  in  satisfying  the  military 
authorities  that  he  was  not  a  German  and  therefore  not 
liable  for  military  service.  The  arresting  official  before 
letting  him  go  complained  that  he  spoke  German  without 
any  accent.  But  Mr.  Bigelow  had  not  realised,  when  in 
Germany,  how  the  German  mind  was  working  in  the 
world's  far  reaches  of  Empire  and  how  thoroughly  the 
determination  to  break  Britain  was  being  expressed  in 
act  and  conduct.  He  says :  "  From  the  club-house 
verandah  at  Singapore  I  one  day  counted  twenty-five 
funnels  of  one  German  line,  and  when  I  looked  into  the 
matter  I  found  that  this  great  subsidised  company  had 
successively  bought  up  small  competing  English  lines  and 


118  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

was  now  carrying  the  British  mail  to  British  colonies  and 
securing  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  most  important  know- 
ledge regarding  these  imperfectly  charted  waters,  notably 
between  the  Philippines,  North  Borneo,  and  the  Malay 
Peninsula."  * 

This  is  a  reminder  of  the  strategy  behind  German  trade 
and  shipping  enterprise.  Australia  has  always  felt  the 
burden  of  proximity  to  Asia  ;  but  between  herself  and  Asia 
lie  the  Dutch  Indies  with  their  dependence  upon  a  mother 
country  which  was  continually  threatened  by  Germany. 
Holland's  administration  of  her  possessions  in  the  Far 
East  has  been  so  successful  that  Java,  for  instance,  has 
been  offered  as  an  example  of  the  way  to  solve  the  problem 
of  native  labour  in  the  Pacific.  Its  population  has  steadily 
increased ;  and  production  has  so  multiplied  in  extent 
and  volume  that  the  Dutch  have  found  their  profits  on  one 
side  of  the  world  a  fruitful  cause  of  envy  to  others,  just  as 
their  seat  upon  the  mouths  of  the  Rhine  has  been  a  source 
of  constant  anxiety  to  themselves.  Australia  has  noted 
it  all  with  growing  interest,  and  the  war  has  not  relieved 
the  pressure  upon  her  thought  as  she  has  looked  northward. 
The  Inter-State  Commission  Report  touches  this  extra- 
ordinary development,  in  the  growing  number  of  natives 
and  in  an  increasing  efficiency  for  production  under  Dutch 
rule,  with  businesslike  solicitude.  In  Australia  is  a  stretch 
of  country  within  the  tropical  belt  covering  something 
like  a  million  square  miles  unsettled  and  uncultivated. 
Queensland  from  Rockhampton  northward,  no  doubt, 
grows  sugar  and  raises  cattle ;  and  sheep  are  gradually 
coming  to  their  own  as  the  cattle  go  further  afield.  But, 
all  told,  the  white  population  of  northern  Queensland  is 

*  "  Prussian  Memories,*'  p.  125, 


THE  TWO  IDEALS  119 

not  much  larger  than  that  of  a  fair-sized  city  in  the  south. 
Chinese  and  aboriginal  natives  make  up  the  balance,  with 
a  few  Japanese  ;  but  when  the  last  soul  is  counted  northern 
Australia  is  a  vast  empty  land,  practically  inviting  occupa- 
tion from  Asiatics  who  are  ready  and  willing  to  put  labour 
into  the  rich  soil  along  its  rivers  and  to  make  the  wilderness 
blossom  as  the  rose.  Not  far  away,  then,  is  Malaysia,  a 
potential  Paradise,  another  million  square  miles  in  area, 
to  which  the  Chinese  are  steadily  gravitating.  The  part 
of  it  owned  by  Holland  already  contains  nearly  fifty 
millions  of  people  and  the  great  bulk  of  this  population  is 
in  Java.  A  well-informed  article  entitled  "  The  Conquering 
Chinese,"  appeared  in  Harper's  Monthly  for  July,  1918, 
which  is  well  worth  reading  by  those  who  are  interested 
in  the  subject  and  have  not  time  to  study  Year  Books  and 
Reports  and  other  carefully  prepared  volumes  of  facts 
and  figures.  The  writer,  Mr.  Walter  E.  Weyl,  is  really 
dealing  with  the  peace-loving,  hard-working  Chinaman. 
His  subject  is  the  Celestial  Empire  as  one  of  the  great 
unconquerable  and  unchanging  forces  of  the  world — except 
as  it  will  absorb  and  assimilate  Western  science  and  know- 
ledge, finally  to  embrace  and  then  overcome  every  obstacle. 
But  China  is  beginning  to  settle  the  million  square  miles 
of  Malaysia,  in  which  Java  alone  is  fulfilling  its  destiny. 

Into  this  wonderful  tropical  fairyland  which  Germany 
has  been  watching — this  million  square  miles  set  in  a 
vast  space  of  ocean — has  come  the  question  of  China  and 
the  overspill  of  its  eight  hundred  millions  of  people.  The 
population  of  Java  in  a  century  of  Dutch  rule  has  developed 
from  between  four  and  five  millions  to  thirty  millions. 
And,  as  Mr.  Weyl  says,  it  is  still  increasing  under  the 
excellent  administration  of  Holland,  so  that  to-day  the 


120  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

island  with  an  area  which  is  only  about  7  per  cent,  of  that 
of  the  Dutch  East  Indies  sustains  more  than  two-thirds 
of  its  people.  "  It  has  720  people  to  the  square  mile, 
more  than  any  country  in  Europe."  And  Mr.  Weyl 
continues  : — "  It  is  in  the  other  Malaysian  islands,  in  those 
still  unpopulated,  that  a  field  for  Chinese  immigration  lies 
wide  open.  If  these  islands  ultimately  attain  a  density  of 
population  as  great  as  that  of  Java  they  will  hold  720,000,000 
souls  instead  of  50,000,000.  These  islands  are  yearly 
becoming  more  habitable.  Under  the  rule  of  European 
and  American  Governments  the  best  methods  of  colonial 
administration  will  be  applied,  as  well  as  those  new  systems 
of  combating  tropical  diseases  which  have  proved  so 
successful  in  Panama.  They  lie  close  to  the  southern 
provinces  of  China,  so  close  that  a  few  dollars  will  carry 
a  steerage  passenger,  bringing  with  him  his  own  rice.  The 
Chinese  thrives  under  good  government ;  he  spreads  as  a 
result  of  European  imperialism,  just  as  in  Africa  Mohamme- 
danism spreads  under  the  political  expansion  of  the  Christian 
Powers.  In  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  we  are  told,  there  are 
already  4  1,500,000  Chinese  and  300,000  Arabs,'  and  '  these 
are  the  over-lords  of  the  land  ;  and  the  Chinese  are  superior 
to  the  Arab  traders.  Throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  Malaysia,'  writes  Dr.  Francis  Guillemard,  4  the  Chinese 
has  made  his  way.'  "*  Australia  has  naturally  watched 
this  astonishing  development  in  tropical  agriculture  and 
increasing  population,  so  close  to  her  back  doors,  with 
absorbed  attention,  though  rather  in  its  relation  to  Asia 
as  the  main  problem.  Her  own  million  square  miles  north 
of  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn  is  a  constant  source  of  anxiety  ; 
and  when  her  officials  in  Papua  make  comparisons  and 
*  Harper's  Monthly,  July,  1918,  pp.  161,  162. 


THE  TWO  IDEALS  121 

draw  conclusions,  after  visiting  Java,  the  paradox  becomes 
more  puzzling  than  ever.  The  Hon.  Staniforth  Smith, 
Director  of  Agriculture  in  the  Territory  of  Papua,  has  paid 
three  official  visits  to  the  Netherlands  East  Indies  in  nine 
years,  the  last  one  in  1914  just  after  the  war  was  developing 
into  the  deadlock  beyond  the  Marne.  An  International 
Rubber  Congress  was  being  held  in  Batavia,  at  which  he 
was  to  represent  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia  ;  and 
though  the  failure  of  his  steamer  connections  prevented 
his  attendance  at  the  time  appointed,  his  report  is  full  of 
important  matter.  He  has  nothing  but  good  to  say  of  the 
Dutch  administration.  After  each  of  his  three  official 
visits,  he  has  become  more  convinced  that  Holland  has  been 
successful  in  dealing  with  the  natives  under  her  control, 
and  in  handling  the  vexed  problem  of  native  labour.  He 
says  that  the  Dutch  have  shown  great  ability  both  in 
directing  economic  development  and  in  governing  and 
uplifting  the  subject  races  committed  to  their  care.  Like 
India,  the  destiny  of  these  islands  was  in  the  hands  of  an 
East  India  Company  ;  and,  as  with  Great  Britain,  the 
Government  of  Holland  stepped  in  to  assume  the  burden 
of  responsibility. 

Mr.  Staniforth  Smith  declares,  then,  that  "  the  first  and 
highest  aim  of  the  people  of  Holland  has  been  to  uplift  and 
benefit  the  millions  of  natives  that  are  under  their  charge 
and  control.  They  have  always  been  prepared  to  sacrifice 
revenue  and  material  interests  for  the  true  welfare  of  the 
natives.  They  have  confirmed  the  natives  in  the  perpetual 
possession  of  the  richest  and  best  lands  in  Java.  The 
taxation  is  not  burdensome,  and  large  sums  have  been 
spent  in  the  creation  of  native  hospitals,  Pasteur  and  vaccine 
institutes  to  prevent  the  spread  of  infectious  and  contagious 


122  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

diseases ;  in  the  training  of  native  doctors  ;  and  in  the 
erection  of  thousands  of  schools  for  the  scholastic  and 
technical  education  of  the  native  races."*  From  a  popula- 
tion in  chains,  broken  by  the  despotic  rule  of  the  rajahs 
and  shrunken  by  war,  there  has  arisen  a  people  33,000,000 
strong,  prosperous,  contented,  and  steadily  progressive 
under  European  control.  "  I  believe  in  the  whole  annals 
of  tropical  government  it  would  be  difficult  to  discover  an 
achievement  more  worthy  of  praise  and  emulation."  This 
is  the  verdict  of  the  Australian  official  from  the  Territory 
of  Papua. 

Here,  therefore,  were  the  Netherlands  East  Indies,  and 
much  beside,  under  Germany's  greedy  eyes,  with  an  infinite 
spread  of  islands  still  eastward  and  with  Australia  com- 
pleting the  magnificent  panorama  of  tropical  wealth,  two- 
thirds  of  its  continental  area  cooling  down  into  temperate 
regions  which  greatly  enhanced  the  value  of  the  whole. 
But  we  must  consider  British  ideals,  as  represented  through- 
out the  Pacific,  and  co-ordinating  with  the  Dutch  ideals  as 
they  were  given  practical  expression  in  Java,  beside  the 
German  thought  of  control  through  Asia  and  across  the 
Pacific.  Other  nations  had  been  building  up,  cultivating, 
and  developing  their  possessions,  with  many  slips  and 
reverses,  gathering  experience  and  wisdom  as  they  went. 
Germany,  however,  was  to  enter  into  a  mighty  domain 
prepared  by  Holland  in  the  East,  and  by  Great  Britain  and 
her  Dominions  in  India  and  Australasia,  on  some  crude 
idea  that  native  races  would  come  to  heel  at  a  word,  and 
that  the  white  folk  everywhere  would  be  ready  for  the 
German  yoke  after  a  blow  from  Germany's  mailed  fist. 

*  Parliamentary  Paper,  Commonwealth  of  Australia,  1914—15, 
"  The  Netherland  East  Indies,"  p.  6. 


THE  TWO  IDEALS  123 

It  was  to  be  done  on  some  wonderful  plan  prepared  in 
Berlin,  and  uniformity  was  to  be  its  mark  throughout  the 
world.  When  Mr.  Poultney  Bigelow  travelled  round  from 
Singapore  to  Kiao  Chau,  the  intervening  British  ports  were 
crowded  with  contented  Chinese.  In  1910  Sir  Frederick 
Lugard  laid  the  foundation  stone  of  a  Chinese  University 
at  Hong  Kong,  to  the  cost  of  which  Chinese  merchants 
were  subscribing  much  money,  and  there  was  no  parade 
about  the  business.  British  prestige  was  a  very  real  thing 
in  the  East,  as  the  shrewd  American  traveller  found.  But 
when  he  reached  German  possessions,  the  whole  atmosphere 
thickened,  and  the  fog  got  into  his  throat.  The  Chinese 
at  Kiao  Chau  had  to  be  driven  to  work,  and  the  German 
settlement  was  a  good  place  to  avoid.  Round  through  to 
New  Guinea  and  the  Bismarck  Archipelago  it  was  the  same. 
Fine  buildings  and  well-ordered  administrative  centres  did 
not  compensate  for  native  distrust ;  and  an  attempt 
everywhere  to  carry  out  the  rule  and  practice  of  German 
municipal  government  only  emphasised  the  fact  that 
Germany's  tropical  possessions  were  not  possessed  at  all. 

But  the  disaster  bred  of  Germany's  mad  ambition  to 
control  everything,  and  her  readiness  to  break  where  she 
could  not  bend,  has  been  sufficiently  revealed  in  the  war 
itself.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  what  happened  before  the 
war  is  being  re-interpreted  by  the  light  of  the  war ;  and 
the  feeling  throughout  Australasia  is  that  Germany  can 
never  be  trusted  again.  Even  business  men,  who  think  of 
a  new  world  with  Germany  disarmed,  cannot  forget  her 
devious  ways  when  foiled  in  time  of  peace.  The  evidence 
given  before  the  Australian  Inter- State  Commission  showed 
that,  although  Messrs.  Burns,  Philp  &  Co.  forced  the  hands 
of  the  Jaluit  Company,  the  former  firm  was  beaten  at  last 


124  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

in  the  field  of  its  most  profitable  business.  The  first  part 
of  the  story  has  already  been  told  in  "  The  New  Pacific  "  ; 
and  it  may  suffice  to  say  that  the  Australian  Inter- State 
Commission  Report  has  noted  Germany's  efforts  to  make 
trade  advantage  by  breaking  solemn  agreements.  So  when 
the  Jaluit  Company  was  beaten  and  Germany  paid  the  fine, 
the  Norddeutscher  Lloyd  was  ordered  to  take  up  the  foils 
— in  a  gentlemanly  way  this  time.  A  director  of  the 
company  was  sent  from  Germany  to  Herbertshohe,  in  New 
Britain,  to  arrange  a  five-years'  contract  on  special  terms, 
on  condition  that  all  the  German  merchants  without 
exception  came  in.  The  German  merchants  were  obedient, 
and  indeed  it  was  to  their  interest  to  obey,  because  the 
Norddeutscher  Lloyd  was  serving  them  at  less  than  cost 
price.  It  did  not  pay  the  company  ;  but  the  Government 
subsidy  and  Government  orders  were  sufficient.  Messrs. 
Burns,  Philp  &  Co.  were  driven  right  out  of  German  New 
Guinea  and  the  Bismarck  Archipelago  and  only  got  back 
when  an  Australian  Expeditionary  Force  took  possession 
for  the  Allies. 

Mr.  Balfour's  speech  at  the  Australian  Club  luncheon  in 
London  in  October,  1918,  sums  up  the  whole  position  in 
this  relation.  Australia  and  New  Zealand  are  far  away 
from  the  centre  of  Empire,  and  have  been  obliged  to  fight 
their  own  battles  more  than  once.  To  them  it  is  absolutely 
vital  that  Germany  shall  not  be  established  at  points  of 
vantage  again.  Mr.  Balfour  said  that  "  time  and  distance 
prevented  complete  community  of  thought ;  therefore 
there  had  been  thrown  upon  several  units  great  political 
responsibility  and  a  great  political  task,  for  which  there 
was  no  precedent.  The  question  was,  could  we  rise  to  this 
great  responsibility  ?  To  do  so  we  must  see  that  under  no 


THE  TWO  IDEALS  125 

consideration  are  the  great  arteries  of  sea  communication 
severed  by  any  foe.  With  this  in  mind,  those  German 
colonies  secured  by  the  efforts  of  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
and  South  Africa  will  not  be  returned  to  Germany.  If 
they  are  returned,  what  security  can  there  be  that  they  will 
not  be  used  by  their  original  possessors  as  bases  for  piratical 
warfare  ?  " 

Mr.  Balfour  added  that  "  he  had  given  long  thought  and 
full  consideration  to  the  question,  and  under  no  circum- 
stances consonant  with  the  safety  of  the  Empire  could 
the  colonies  be  returned.  This  was  no  selfish  or  imperial- 
istic doctrine.  It  was  one  in  which  the  whole  civilised 
world  as  closely  concurred  as  ourselves.  Were  the  means 
of  communication  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  a  Power  who  refused 
to  be  bound  by  treaty,  who  was  as  deaf  to  its  pledges  as  to 
decent  methods  and  humanity  in  warfare  ?  "  *  Germany's 
thought  of  the  Netherlands  East  Indies  was  one  of  conquest, 
and  all  her  later  trade  relations  with  Australia  were  based 
upon  a  definite  plan  of  campaign  to  the  same  end.  Her 
attitude  to  the  natives  everywhere  has  been  that  of  con- 
queror and  her  record  in  the  great  war  has  been  so  full  of 
desperate  crime  that  the  people  of  the  British  Dominions 
will  never  trust  her  again. 

*  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  October  25th,  1918. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   MISSIONARY   FACTOR 

Germany  never  an  explorer.  Equally  indebted  to  Britain 
on  the  missionary  side.  Yet  bad  for  German  trade.  In- 
structions against  missionaries.  Sir  George  Grey  and 
Bishop  Selwyn  as  Imperialists.  Caroline  Island  chief  moved 
to  approve.  New  Zealand  and  the  king  movement.  Maori 
Christianity.  Maori  loyalty.  "  This  is  my  flag."  George 
Brown  watching  it  all.  Maoris  fighting  for  the  Empire. 

IT  has  already  been  shown  that  Germany  was  never  an 
explorer  or  pioneer  in  the  Pacific.  Other  nations  laboured 
there,  and  she  entered  into  their  labours.  Through  her 
trade  she  prepared  for  conquest,  and  no  moral  considera- 
tions had  weight  with  her.  Yet  on  the  moral  and  spiritual 
side  she  was  again  profoundly  indebted  to  the  work  of 
others ;  for  her  trade  would  have  been  impossible  in  the 
extended  form  it  took  if  heroic  men  and  women  had  not 
first  spent  or  laid  down  their  lives  for  the  native  races. 
Germany  in  Samoa,  in  the  Solomons,  in  the  Bismarck 
Archipelago,  and  in  New  Guinea,  benefited  by  the  civilis- 
ing and  Christianising  influences  which  were  constantly 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  barbarism  and  hostility  of  many 
tribes  and  clans.  These  were  face  to  face,  no  doubt,  with 
the  white  man's  greed  and  the  white  man's  vices ;  and 
there  is  an  apparent  lack  of  logic  in  the  general  statement. 
The  white  man's  advent  threatened  to  make  the  brown 
man's  grave,  where  it  had  not  already  actually  dug  it  deep 
and  wide.  Germany  entered  the  Pacific  to  find  white 
adventurers  on  many  of  the  beaches,  and  not  infrequently 


THE  MISSIONARY  FACTOR  127 

living  with  the  natives  ;  and  she  simply  used  the  material 
for  her  trading  purposes  as  she  found  it.  But  had  not  men 
like  James  Chalmers,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  George 
Brown,  Sir  William  MacGregor,  and  other  just  and  able 
administrators,  missionaries,  and  writers,  thrown  their 
weight  into  the  scale,  the  history  of  the  ocean  would  have 
been  somewhat  like  the  story  of  the  great  war.  As  far  as 
Germany  was  concerned  it  would  have  begun  and  ended 
with  outrage  and  every  abomination ;  and  at  last  the 
impossibility  of  carrying  on  any  enterprise  on  a  basis  of 
mere  money-making  would  have  been  demonstrated.  Self- 
aggrandisement  would  have  been  attempted  on  islands 
emptied  of  their  native  inhabitants,  which  for  years  would 
have  been  made  as  useless  for  civilisation  as  Mexico  and 
Peru  after  the  conquering  Spaniards  had  ruined  them. 

Argue  as  objectors  may,  the  great  moral  and  spiritual 
uplift  of  missionary  work  in  the  Pacific  had  a  powerful 
effect  in  saving  the  situation  for  Germany  and  making 
possible  her  plans  for  trade  and  industry.  Ways  were 
continually  being  opened  for  her  activities.  But  missionary 
work  represents  the  fine  broad  influence  of  men  of  character, 
not  necessarily  identified  with  any  church  organisation,  as 
well  as  the  labours  of  such  spiritual  pioneers  as  Samuel 
Marsden,  John  Williams,  the  Selwyns,  father  and  son, 
Patteson,  and  their  successors  in  a  dozen  lines  of  indepen- 
dent spiritual  enterprise.  There  is,  of  course,  the  purely 
missionary  side  to  this.  That  all  men  of  strong  Christian 
principle  working  in  the  Pacific  represented  conflict  with 
the  pure  materialism  of  German  traders  like  Theodor  Weber 
has  been  clearly  demonstrated,  and  the  battle  between  them 
was  joined  early  in  the  day.  But  long  before  WTeber  began 
to  play  his  ruthless  game  the  field  had  been  prepared,  and 


128  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

was  being  held,  not  by  white  traders  on  the  beaches  or 
hardy  adventurers  on  the  high  seas,  but  by  simple  earnest 
men  following  a  definite  line  of  duty  as  missionaries  in 
various  islands  and  island  groups,  and  carrying  with  them 
the  sympathy  and  support  of  a  multitude  of  fellow  country- 
men in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  The  yeast 
was  beginning  to  work  in  the  mass  of  dark  unspiritual 
humanity  which  covered  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  ;  and  it 
became  bad  for  trade,  as  the  German  carried  it  on.  Thus 
the  Sterndale  report,  in  the  New  Zealand  Blue  Book  of 
1874,  is  emphatic  upon  the  point  of  an  issue  joined  and  of  a 
definite  campaign  entered  upon  by  the  house  of  Godeffroy 
against  mission  work  everywhere.  The  Godeffroy  traders 
were  given  certain  instructions.  Each  man  was  supplied 
with  transport,  with  material  to  build  a  storehouse,  and 
with  goods  for  trade ;  but  he  was  paid  no  salary,  as  his 
payment  depended  upon  what  he  was  able  to  send  back 
from  the  island  or  islands  under  his  grasp.  Further,  the 
trader  was  ordered  to  get  a  native  woman  for  himself  and 
to  oppose  and  obstruct  missionaries  at  all  points.  Already 
the  conflict  had  become  sharp  over  Godeffroy's  unscrupu- 
lous use  of  debased  coinage,  not  only  because  it  seriously 
affected  Mission  revenues,  but  because  it  was  bad  in  itself. 
The  natives  were  being  taught  to  expect  fair  play  and  to 
demand  their  rights  in  a  deal.  The  moral  side  of  the 
question  of  trade  was  being  set  against  the  material,  the 
Christian  ethic  was  opposed  once  and  for  all  to  the  hard 
grab  for  profits.  Then  political  power  was  claimed.  It 
was  a  natural  corollary  to  the  stern  demand  for  gains  on 
the  scale  that  the  Godeffroys  wanted  ;  and  at  once  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson  put  his  foot  into  the  arena.  This  is  where 
Mission  work  in  the  Pacific  must  be  recognised  for  some- 


THE  MISSIONARY  FACTOR  129 

thing  greater  than  mere  Church  organisation  or  competition 
between  societies  financed  by  various  religious  denomina- 
tions. Selwyn  the  elder  was  a  Churchman,  and  as  intense 
and  narrow  in  some  of  his  views  as  any  small  white  mission- 
ary settled  among  the  natives.  But  when  looking  abroad 
in  the  Pacific  he  became  a  statesman  in  mind  and  spirit. 
He  influenced  men  in  spite  of  themselves.  George  Brown 
left  England  in  an  emigrant  ship  bound  for  New  Zealand 
in  1855,  with  Bishop  Selwyn  on  board,  and  the  latter 
started  classes  in  Maori  for  those  who  cared  to  learn  the 
language.  George  Brown  joined  at  once.  The  thoughtless 
lad,  with  no  wish  but  to  get  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  was 
thus  brought  into  contact  with  both  Selwyn  and  Patteson  ; 
and  he  admitted  quite  frankly  that  they  profoundly 
affected  his  subsequent  career.  But  the  Selwyn  who 
taught  Maori  to  emigrant  youths  was  concerned  about  the 
whole  native  outlook,  and  he  and  Sir  George  Grey  would 
have  soon  brought  the  strategic  island  groups  of  the  Pacific 
under  the  British  flag.  So  eager  were  they  to  give  the 
natives  everywhere  a  chance  that  the  story  had  only  to  be 
told  some  years  later  to  a  chief  in  the  Caroline  Islands  by 
an  English  traveller  to  move  him  to  exclaim  :  "  It  is 
indeed  well ;  one  family,  one  flag.  The  sea-girt  lands  will 
hold  together  like  one  household,  the  people  will  plant  the 
ground  and  gather  the  fruits  in  security,  and  war  will 
vanish  as  the  night  at  sunrise."*  This  was  in  the  group 
where  Germany  subsequently  sought  to  break  the  natives 
to  her  will  by  forced  labour,  the  lash,  and  rigid  rules  of 
conduct  drafted  in  Berlin — and  where  rebellion  was  met 
with  slaughter  and  atrocities  of  the  usual  German  type. 
"  Sir  George  Grey's  magnificent  dream  of  the  federation  of 
*  "  The  Caroline  Islands,"  by  F.  W.  Christian,  p.  220. 

S.Q.  K 


130  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

all  the  isles  of  the  Pacific, "  as  the  English  traveller  put  it, 
stirred  the  imagination  of  one  of  these  Caroline  Islanders, 
and  appealed  to  his  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things  ;  while 
Germany's  thought  of  Empire  simply  drove  him  later  on 
into  frenzied  opposition. 

How  thoroughly  this  ferment  worked  upon  the  native 
mind  is  to  be  seen  in  the  experience  of  New  Zealand  herself 
in  the  fateful  years  of  the  king  movement.  There  was 
danger  as  well  as  safety  in  the  gospel  of  freedom  and  the 
announcement  ol  universal  brotherhood.  Sir  George  Grey 
and  Bishop  Selwyn  may  have  realised  the  implications  of 
their  large  thoughts  of  the  natives  ;  for  when  kings  and 
queens  were  seen  by  Maori  chiefs  at  close  quarters,  and  that 
great  chief  Hongi  learned  something  of  the  doings  of  a 
wonderful  man  named  Napoleon  Buonaparte,  there  was 
trouble.  It  must  be  remembered  that  Sir  George  Grey 
had  two  terms  as  Governor  of  New  Zealand.  He  left  in 
1853  and  returned  in  1863.  In  the  interval  the  two  races 
faced  one  another  with  increasing  doubt  as  to  the  future  ; 
and  the  inevitable  collision  came  again  in  1859  with  war 
between  the  Maori  and  the  white  folk.  Settlements  in 
the  earlier  days  had  to  be  abandoned  as  a  consequence  of 
the  raids  of  Hongi  himself,  who  had  set  the  North  Island 
in  a  blaze.  His  trip  to  England  to  see  the  King — William 
IV. — had  resulted  in  his  return  to  New  Zealand  with  guns 
and  ammunition,  among  other  things,  for  the  civilisation  of 
his  fellow  Maori.  Withal  he  had  begun  to  see  visions 
and  dream  dreams.  He,  too,  would  be  a  king,  and  he 
proceeded  to  use  his  guns  upon  the  neighbouring  tribes,  to 
their  utter  surprise  and  discomfiture  in  such  unequal  war- 
fare. He  spread  fire  and  ruin  through  the  north.  Then 
there  was  an  interval ;  and  the  revival  of  the  king  move- 


THE  MISSIONARY  FACTOR  131 

ment  came  during  George  Brown's  stay  in  New  Zealand. 
The  critical  decision  was  reached  in  1857,  three  years  before 
he  set  out  for  Samoa,  to  stay  in  that  group  till  1870.  One 
of  the  principal  Maori  tribes  remained  loyal  to  the  British 
flag,  and  a  station  called  Waingaroa  was  its  head  centre. 
(This  must  not  be  confounded  with  a  northern  Maori 
settlement  called  Whangaroa  which  had  been  the  scene  of 
the  Boyd  massacre  in  earlier  days,  when  a  whole  ship's 
crew  was  done  to  death  by  the  natives.)  A  new  ferment 
was  working.  The  white  man's  teaching  of  brotherhood 
and  of  liberty  under  the  law  was  being  turned  against  him 
and  the  Maoris  were  beginning  again  to  ask  whether  they 
could  not  have  a  native  king  in  their  own  land.  The 
Rev.  J.  H.  Fletcher,  who  was  Head  Master  of  Wesley 
College  in  Auckland  and  in  later  years  became  President  of 
Newington  College  in  Sydney,  writing  in  1858  said : 
44  Maori  Christianity  is  a  great  fact,  yet  it  has  its  perplexing 
aspects.  This  people  suddenly,  and  as  it  were  at  a  bound, 
reached  a  certain  pitch  of  civilisation  and  christianisation, 
and  there  they  halt.  .  .  .  One  great  hindrance  to  Maori 
civilisation  has  been  their  traditional  communism.  No 
man  can  say  that  the  loaf  in  his  cupboard,  or  the  shirt  on 
his  back,  is  his  own.  He  who  built  a  better  house  than  his 
neighbour  would  find  everybody  else  as  ready  to  appreciate 
it,  and  as  determined  to  enjoy  it,  as  himself.  Then  the 
possession  of  lands  far  beyond  anything  they  can  ever  need, 
and  the  chaos  into  which  government  has  fallen  amongst 
them,  lead  to  fanaticism  and  political  rottenness — here  a 
prophet  starts  up  and  there  a  king.  .  .  .  Cannibalism,  the 
war-dance,  the  uproar  and  madness  of  heathenism,  are  gone. 
The  scene  is  changed  beyond  question,  yet  many  years  of 
toil,  of  personal  influence  and  example  on  the  part  of  the 


132  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

missionaries,  will  be  needed  to  bring  in  the  order,  the  purity 
of  thought,  the  ascendency  of  law,  the  prevalence  of  industry 
and  enterprise,  the  literature  and  the  social  decencies  and 
proprieties  which  are  inseparable  from  our  ideas  of  Chris- 
tianity."* 

The  Maoris  were  never  a  race  to  be  trifled  with  ;  and 
the  news  of  war  against  the  white  man  stirred  Samoa  and 
Fiji  to  their  depths.  Proud  and  sensitive — treacherous,  no 
doubt — as  the  Maoris  were,  they  were  capable  of  the 
highest  service  and  self-sacrifice.  This  was  seen  when  the 
king  movement  was  again  working  to  a  crisis.  The  great 
tribe  in  the  north  which  could  be  trusted  was  actively,  not 
passively,  loyal.  But  evil  influences  were  at  work  elsewhere. 
The  younger  men  of  the  tribes  were  getting  restless,  and 
some  of  the  older  men  allowed  jealousy,  and  often  well- 
founded  irritation,  to  move  them  to  listen  to  the  voice  of 
the  tempter.  Then  like  a  thunderbolt  the  break  came,  and 
at  last  Potatau  was  proclaimed  king,  while  a  new  flag  was 
hoisted  to  take  the  place  of  the  Union  Jack.  But  the  tribe 
mentioned  above,  Ngatimahanga,  would  have  none  of  it, 
and  Dr.  George  Brown  told  the  present  writer  that  he  well 
remembered  hearing  one  of  the  leading  chiefs,  Te  Awaitaia, 
give  his  opinion  of  the  new  flag.  The  whole  thing  is 
interesting  because  it  helps  to  explain  how  British  influence 
became  known  and  understood  among  the  Samoans,  when 
Germany  through  Theodor  Weber  began  to  move  upon  the 
group,  and  why  the  Samoan  chiefs  more  than  once  offered 
their  islands  to  Great  Britain.  An  uncle  of  Dr.  Brown,  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Buddie,  was  an  authority  on  Maori  history 
and  Maori  aspirations  ;  and  in  his  interesting  monograph 

*  "  Sermons,  Addresses  and  Essays,"  by  Joseph  Horner  Fletcher, 
pp.  27,  28. 


THE  MISSIONARY  FACTOR  133 

"  The  King  Movement  in  New  Zealand,"  published  in  1860, 
he  says  that  the  flag  hoisted  in  place  of  the  Union  Jack  was 
one  given  by  William  IV.  to  the  united  tribes  at  the  Bay  of 
Islands.  It,  therefore,  could  hardly  have  been  the  flag 
presented  to  Hongi  on  his  visit  to  England  in  1820,  when  he 
was  also  given  a  suit  of  armour  and  was  excited  by  stories 
of  Napoleon.  The  flag  hoisted  by  the  king  party  at  a  great 
meeting  of  2,000  natives  on  the  banks  of  the  Waikato  River 
in  May,  1857,  had  upon  it  the  inscription  "  Potatau,  King 
of  New  Zealand  "  ;  and  the  opposing  party  at  this  meeting 
headed  by  Te  Awaitaia,  hoisted  the  Union  Jack.  Dr. 
Brown  heard  the  latter  say  scornfully,  pointing  to  the  other 
flag  :  "  What  is  that  ?  I  do  not  know  it.  I  never  saw  it 
before.  Take  it  away.  What  fighting  has  it  ever  seen  ? 
Has  it  waved  over  any  battle  on  sea  or  land  ?  Take  it 
away.  Has  it  a  name  ?  Does  it  live  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people  ?  Can  it  be  found  where  the  ships  come  and  go ; 
or  has  it  a  place  among  the  nations  ?  Take  it  away.  I 
do  not  honour  it,  and  I  am  not  bound  by  it."  Then  he 
turned  to  the  Union  Jack  and  said  :  "  This  is  the  flag.  It 
has  been  carried  in  battle  and  it  flies  on  every  sea.  What 
sea  is  there  where  it  cannot  be  seen  ?  What  battles  have 
been  fought  where  it  was  not  a  pledge  of  victory  ?  This 
is  my  flag.  It  is  the  Queen's  flag,  and  under  it  I  will  live 
and  die.  Its  honour  is  my  honour.  Its  glory  is  my  glory." 
The  king  party  was  headed  by  the  principal  chief  of  the 
Ngatihaua  tribe,  William  Thompson  Tarapipipi,  who  was 
the  author  and  promoter  of  the  movement,  and  with  him 
was  associated  Te  Heuheu  and  other  influential  chiefs. 
After  they  had  spoken  at  this  meeting,  Te  Awaitaia  rose 
and  said  :  "I  am  a  small  man  and  a  fool.  I  am  ignorant 
of  those  scriptures  you  quote.  Ngatihaua  don't  be  dark. 


134  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

Waikato  hear ;  Taupo  attend.  I  speak  as  a  father,  and 
my  word  is  this.  I  promised  the  first  Governor  when  he 
came  to  see  me,  and  I  promised  all  the  rest,  that  I  would 
stick  to  him  and  be  a  subject  of  the  Queen.  I  intend  to 
keep  my  promise,  for  they  have  kept  theirs.  They  have 
taken  no  land.  The  desire  to  sell  was  mine,  and  they  gave 
me  money.  Why  do  you  bring  that  flag  here  ?  There  is 
trouble  in  it.  I  can't  see  my  way  clear.  But  I  know  there 
is  trouble  in  that  flag.  I  am  content  with  the  old  one.  It 
is  seen  all  over  the  world,  and  belongs  to  me.  I  get  some 
of  its  honour.  What  honour  can  I  get  from  your  flag  ?  It 
is  like  a  fountain  without  water.  Don't  trouble  me.  You 
say  we  are  slaves.  If  acknowledging  that  flag  (pointing  to 
the  Queen's)  makes  me  a  slave,  I  am  a  slave.  Let  me 
alone.  Don't  bring  trouble  upon  us.  Go  back  to  the 
mountains.  Let  us  live  in  peace  ;  I  and  the  Governor  will 
take  our  own  course." 

The  speech  made  a  profound  impression  and  WTilliam 
Thompson  rose  after  a  long  silence  and  said  :  "  I  am  sorry 
my  father  has  spoken  so  strongly.  He  has  taken  away  my 
life."  But  other  meetings  and  continued  agitation  moved 
the  tribes  at  last ;  and  Potatau  was  proclaimed  king.  He 
was  an  old  man  who  had  been  notable  in  his  day,  but  was 
chosen  because  he  would  not  give  Thompson  and  the  rest 
any  trouble.  He  was  a  good  figurehead,  and  the  others 
had  all  the  power.  George  Brown  watched  the  movement 
with  increasing  interest.  But  it  was  clear  that  the  tragedy 
in  view  was  being  born  of  the  old  conflict  of  two  rights. 
The  white  settlers  had  their  just  claims,  and  the  Maoris 
were  conscious  of  a  spirit  before  which  their  own  privileges 
and  traditions  were  in  jeopardy.  The  two  races  were 
bound  to  come  in  conflict  unless  a  better  understanding  of 


THE  MISSIONARY  FACTOR  135 

each  by  the  other  could  arise.  George  Brown  was  reaching 
the  conclusion,  which  he  applied  right  through  his  life  as  a 
missionary,  that  he  must  learn  to  think  and  feel  as  the 
natives  did  before  he  could  fairly  interpret  Christianity  and 
the  white  man's  civilisation  to  them  ;  but  he  realised  that 
some  of  the  problems  would  be  well  nigh  insoluble  unless 
Great  Britain  acted  not  only  fairly  but  fearlessly.  We 
know  what  the  result  has  been  for  New  Zealand.  The 
Maoris  to-day  are  our  fellow- citizens  within  the  Empire. 
They  vote  and  have  their  own  Parliamentary  representa- 
tives. They  have  fought  and  have  died  for  the  flag  which 
many  of  their  grandfathers  would  have  torn  down  every- 
where, but  which  to-day  is  the  sure  warrant  of  their  liberty 
and  of  their  rights  as  land  owners  and  wealth  producers. 
Education  is  bringing  them  into  ever  closer  relations  with 
their  white  brethren,  and  the  wonderful  progress  of  New 
Zealand  is  as  much  an  asset  for  them  as  for  the  rest  of  the 
population.  But  New  Zealand  has  always  been  a  centre 
of  interest  for  Samoa  and  the  Samoans.  Sir  Julius  Vogel 
in  his  grandiloquent  way  said  :  "  It  is  remarkable  how  the 
prevailing  winds  make  New  Zealand  and  the  islands 
mutually  accessible.  They  proclaim  New  Zealand  as  the 
natural  headquarters  of  Polynesia."  Steam,  no  doubt, 
has  altered  all  that ;  but  the  natives  of  Samoa  do  not  forget 
that  their  canoes,  built  on  the  island  of  Savaii,  at  one  time 
had  a  great  reputation  among  the  Maoris,  and  that  indeed 
the  very  name  "  Savaii  "  is  full  of  romance.  It  indicates 
in  itself  a  Polynesian  dispersion  from  Samoa,  and  a  probable 
peopling  of  New  Zealand  and  Hawaii  from  the  group  which 
Germany  was  able  at  last  to  appropriate.  This  is  only 
mentioned  to  show  how  eagerly  news  from  New  Zealand 
was  looked  for,  and  how  the  sense  of  a  common  origin 


136  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

moved  the  Samoans  to  think  along  similar  lines,  though 
with  a  certain  condescension.  The  Maoris  were  still 
cannibals  long  after  the  Samoans  had  abandoned  canni- 
balism. But  British  prestige  counted  for  much  ;  and  when 
British  missionaries  conquered  Samoa  they  carried  with 
them  the  flag,  though  out  of  sight,  which  flew  upon  every 
sea  and  under  which  New  Zealand  was  settling  down  to  such 
wonderful  prosperity.  Why,  then,  should  not  Great  Britain 
save  Samoa  from  Germany  ?  It  was  a  question  continually 
asked  by  Samoan  chiefs  in  the  days  when  George  Brown 
was  striving  to  teach  them  the  futility  of  war  as  a  means 
of  settling  their  differences. 

Germany  may  have  felt  that  the  conquest  wrought  by 
mission  work  in  Samoa  was  worth  little  enough,  since  the 
natives  fought  in  spite  of  it  and  to  her  ultimate  advantage. 
But  from  Samoa  went  George  Brown  to  New  Britain  with 
native  teachers,  ten  years  before  Germany  took  possession  ; 
and  by  the  time  his  successors,  Benjamin  Banks  and  others, 
had  done  their  work  innumerable  barriers  were  broken 
down.  The  hated  missionary  became  Germany's  right 
hand.  Country  was  opened  up  by  their  aid  ;  and  villages 
that  had  been  fighting  and  were  in  constant  enmity  became 
friendly  under  the  white  man's  persuasion.  As  one  looks 
back  it  is  all  very  strange.  There  is  no  finer  story  of 
heroism  in  mission  annals  than  that  of  the  occupation  of 
New  Britain  by  British  missionaries — where  Carteret  sailed 
and  took  possession  for  King  George  III.  There  the  German 
trader  triumphed,  but  Germany  ultimately  was  disposed  of 
by  the  forces  of  a  Dominion  whose  name  and  place  were  still 
to  come  when  the  initial  British  flag  was  flown.  There,  too, 
the  Australian  Commonwealth  to-day  is  watching  develop- 
ments with  the  keenest  solicitude  because  of  the  past. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

GOVERNMENT   BY   PRECEPT 

Sir  George  Grey  and  Tawhiao.  They  sign  the  pledge. 
Sir  Arthur  Gordon  and  Maafu.  Sir  William  MacGregor's 
way.  Dr.  Brown  in  New  Britain  and  the  Solomons.  Glad- 
stone's policy.  Cost  of  the  wars  in  New  Zealand.  Catching 
Tartars.  Dr.  Brown's  criticism  of  Government  fears.  The 
case  of  Fiji.  Germany  benefited  by  Gladstone's  hesitancies. 

NEVER  was  there  a  better  example  of  the  British  way  of 
dealing  with  native  chiefs  than  that  given  by  Sir  George 
Grey  in  his  years  as  Governor  of  New  Zealand.  One  is  also 
reminded  that  the  island  of  Kawau  saw  many  interesting 
people  and  events  in  the  twenty  years  of  Sir  George  Grey's 
residence  between  1870  and  1892.  His  biographers  note 
that  "  it  was  there  that  the  Maori  King  Tawhiao,  who  was 
about  to  visit  England,  came  to  ask  Sir  George's  advice  as 
to  his  conduct,  when  Sir  George,  knowing  the  weakness  of 
the  savage  prince,  became  a  total  abstainer  in  order  to 
prevail  upon  Tawhiao  to  do  the  same.  With  tears  the 
Maori  King  pledged  his  word  to  the  ex-Governor,  and  that 
word  was  royally  kept.  Never  once  during  his  trip  to 
England  did  Tawhiao  touch  spirituous  liquors."*  It  is 
interesting  to  recall  the  fact  that  from  Kawau  in  1880  Sir 
George  Grey  wrote  the  long  letter  to  Malietoa,  the  King  of 
Samoa,  then  in  the  grip  of  Germany,  and  that  the  wisdom 
and  moderation  of  his  advice  bore  fruit  later  on,  after 
Malietoa's  fall,  in  his  restoration.  It  was  help  for  Germany 

*  "Life  and  Times  of  Sir  George  Grey,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  508. 


138  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

notwithstanding,  and  this  is  typical  of  everything  that  has 
happened  in  the  Pacific.  On  one  occasion,  when  talking 
with  the  present  writer,  Dr.  George  Brown  made  a  shrewd 
remark.  "  What  impresses  me  so  much,"  said  the  veteran 
missionary,  who  was  always  a  student  of  the  currents  of 
Empire  as  they  set  and  swirled  through  the  Pacific,  "  is  the 
fact  that  Sir  George  was  a  paradox  with  quite  a  reasonable 
explanation.  He  was  an  officer  of  the  British  Army,  an 
autocrat,  a  great  Imperialist  when  other  men  were  afraid 
of  Empire,  and  a  builder  of  Empire  into  the  bargain,  and 
yet  he  was  the  greatest  democrat  of  his  time,  both  at  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  it.  These  extraordinary  opposites 
can  be  reconciled  in  his  work.  He  did  things  ;  and  his  way 
of  doing  them,  as  well  as  his  spirit  in  doing  them,  are  the 
key  to  any  success  we  may  hope  to  achieve  in  a  new  order 
in  the  Pacific." 

When  Dr.  Brown  was  in  England  in  1886  he  visited  Lord 
Stanmore,  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  of  the  earlier  years,  and  at 
dinner  one  night  he  said  to  his  host :  "  Lord  Stanmore,  I 
have  been  telling  a  story  about  you  all  over  the  country, 
and  it  is  time  I  found  out  whether  it  is  true."  Lord  Stan- 
more  looked  up  with  a  puzzled  frown,  ejaculating,  "  Eh— 
what  ?  "  Dr.  Brown  continued  :  "  It  is  about  Maafu." 
It  should  be  explained  that  Thakombau  and  Maafu  were 
the  two  chiefs  principally  responsible  for  the  cession  of  Fiji 
to  the  British  Government,  and  that  they  hated  one 
another.  During  the  ceremonies  of  cession,  had  Thakom- 
bau not  called  Maafu's  name  to  follow  his  own  in  drinking 
from  the  Yanqoma  bowl  there  would  probably  have  been 
no  deed  signed  at  all.  Lord  Stanmore  certainly  remembered 
Maafu  and  said  so.  "It  was  upon  Maafu,"  said  Dr.  Brown, 
"  that  my  story  turned,  but  you  are  the  principal  person  in 


GOVERNMENT  BY  PRECEPT          139 

it  after  all.  I  have  told  audiences  up  and  down  this 
country  that  after  the  cession  Maafu  and  Thakombau 
received  pensions  from  the  British  Government,  and  that 
soon  after  that  event  Maafu  began  to  drink  heavily.  Well, 
in  my  story  I  said  that  you,  the  Governor,  sent  for  him  and 
told  him  what  a  pity  it  was.  You  argued  with  him.  You 
urged  that  he  was  ruining  his  health,  shortening  his  life, 
and  imperilling  his  pension  by  drinking  as  he  was  doing, 
and  when  this  was  not  effective  you  on  one  occasion  said  : 
4  Look  here,  Maafu,  perhaps  you  think  that  because  I 
drink  wine  and  you  see  it  on  Government  House  table  you 
are  right  in  doing  the  same.  But  it  is  not  the  same,  and 
you  are  in  danger.  Just  to  show  you  what  I  think  about 
it,  I  will  put  all  wine  from  my  table  and  take  none  myself 
as  long  as  you  keep  away  from  it.  If  you  will  sign  the 
pledge  I  will  begin  at  once  and  stand  by  you ;  and  while 
you  keep  to  your  side  of  the  bargain  I  will  keep  to  mine. 
Is  that  fair  ?  '  Dr.  Brown  turned  to  Lord  Stanmore  and 
asked  :  "Is  that  true  ?  "  Lord  Stanmore  looked  at  his 
guest  doubtfully  and  replied  :  "I  suppose  people  will  say 
that  I  never  kept  my  word  because  I  take  something  now." 
Dr.  Brown  retorted  :  "  But  that  is  not  the  point.  I  said 
that  as  long  as  Maafu  kept  from  drinking  you  kept  your 
pledge  and  stood  by  him."  Lord  Stanmore  nodded. 
"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  that  is  true  "  ;  and  Dr.  Brown  vouched 
for  the  fact  that  the  Governor's  steady  friendship  kept 
Maafu  sober  for  years.  It  was  well  done,  for  Maafu  was 
worth  saving,  and  as  a  Tongan  chief  was  one  of  the  finest 
representatives  of  his  order.  Dr.  Bromilow,  in  a  recent 
appreciation,  bears  the  same  witness  of  Sir  William  Mac- 
Gregor.  He  says :  "  It  is  true  of  this  great  man  that,  when  in 
Fiji  he  saw  the  harm  resulting  to  certain  chiefs  from  the  use 


140  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

of  intoxicants,  he  totally  abstained  from  his  own  moderate 
partaking  ;  and  in  New  Guinea  he  banished  liquor  from 
his  own  table  to  save  some  of  his  officers."  But  this  was 
only  an  example  of  what  was  being  done  all  over  the  Pacific. 
Even  at  the  limits  of  Empire  in  far  off  Samoa,  in  New 
Britain  and  the  Solomons,  Dr.  Brown  looked  at  things  not 
only  with  the  eyes  of  the  man  on  the  spot,  but  also  with 
the  vision  of  a  prophet.  He  could  see  that  Gladstone's 
foreign  policy  was  bearing  evil  fruit,  not  because  the  great 
man  in  London  could  not  take  large  views,  but  because  his 
; administration  at  home  and  his  yearnings  for  economy 
made  prompt  statesmanlike  action  abroad  difficult  if  not 
impossible.  The  pioneers  of  Empire  knew  that  Downing 
Street  could  not,  or  would  not,  get  the  facts  into  focus  nor 
face  the  German  menace  with  courage  and  resource.  This, 
of  course,  involved  more  than  a  maintaining  of  present 
boundaries.  It  meant  extending  them  and  increasing  the 
responsibility  of  Government  from  the  centre  in  London, 
and  perhaps  Lord  Morley's  defence  of  Gladstone  from  this 
point  of  view  may  need  repeating.  But  as  it  happened, 
however,  it  was  not  Gladstone's  fault  that  Samoa  was  not 
annexed  when  the  chiefs  offered  the  group  to  Great  Britain 
through  Sir  Arthur  Gordon.  On  one  occasion  Dr.  Brown 
said  to  the  present  writer  :  "I  was  talking  to  Lord  Stan- 
more  in  his  library  at  home  in  one  of  my  visits  to  the  old 
country ;  and  he  took  down  a  book  that  had  never  been 
published,  though  it  had  been  printed,  and  perhaps  had 
been  distributed  privately  among  his  friends.  It  was  just 
the  record  of  his  experiences  as  first  Governor  of  Fiji,  and 
probably  of  much  beside.  But  the  interesting  thing  was 
Lord  Stanmore's  statement  that  the  most  perplexing  time 
of  his  life  was  when  he  had  to  decide  whether  to  annex 


GOVERNMENT  BY   PRECEPT          141 

Samoa  or  not.  There  was  no  direct  means  of  communica- 
tion with  the  British  Government  by  cable  as  in  these  days, 
and  any  decision  had  to  be  taken  under  the  Governor's  own 
responsibility.  Had  he  annexed  Samoa  it  is  unlikely  that 
the  act  would  have  been  repudiated ;  and  it  would  have 
been  the  right  thing.  It  would  have  saved  a  world  of 
trouble.  The  way  was  quite  clear,  and  Sir  Arthur  Gordon 
(as  he  was  then)  could  see  the  mighty  advantages  of  the 
course.  But — he  hesitated  and  was  lost.  He  has  been 
attacked  for  his  policy  of  annexation  and  extension  in  the 
Pacific,  which  found  some  expression  in  the  tacking  on  of 
Rotumah  to  Fiji ;  and  perhaps  he  did  think  that  he  was 
justified  in  spreading  the  Empire.  It  certainly  appealed 
to  his  ambition  to  leave  some  such  '  footprints  on  the  sands 
of  time.'  But  he  admitted  to  me  that  when  the  actual 
moment  of  decision  came  he  could  not  face  the  future  with 
the  possibility  of  a  great  mistake  on  his  conscience.  Samoa 
was  not  annexed,  though  he  said  he  was  just  on  the  point 
of  committing  the  Government." 

When  asked  what  the  real  reason  behind  this  fear  could 
be,  Dr.  Brown  said  that  the  British  Government  dreaded 
the  expense  of  a  native  war.  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  was  an 
inheritor  of  the  Gladstone  tradition  in  colonial  administra- 
tion ;  and  one  must  remember  that  Lord  Aberdeen,  the 
head  of  the  House  of  Gordon,  was  at  one  time  Prime 
Minister  when  Gladstone  was  a  member  of  the  Cabinet. 
That  was  in  the  early  fifties,  in  a  coalition  Government ; 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  on  the  break-up  of  the 
party  alliance,  and  when  a  new  Government  was  formed, 
the  messenger  from  Lord  Aberdeen  to  Gladstone  was  the 
future  Governor  of  Fiji.*  To  turn  up  Spencer  Walpole  is 
*  "  Life  of  Gladstone,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  398. 


142  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

to  get  a  curious  commentary  upon  this  in  relation  to  the 
present  position  in  the  Pacific.  The  author  says  that  if  in 
1856  British  statesmen  and  the  British  people  "  failed  to 
appreciate  at  its  true  worth  the  value  of  a  great  colonial 
Empire,  or  the  rapid  expansion  of  a  greater  English- 
speaking  republic,  they  were  equally  blind  to  the  new 
forces  that  were  growing  up  in  Europe.  Lord  Palmerston, 
to  the  end  of  his  life,  remained  strangely  ignorant  of  the 
causes  which  were  drawing  the  German  people  together, 
and  was  equally  uninformed  of  the  circumstances  which 
were  making  the  Prussian  army  the  most  efficient  military 
machine  in  the  world."* 

Dr.  Brown  used  to  insist  that  the  whole  situation  was 
governed  by  the  dread  of  what  Empire  would  cost.  Glad- 
stone, as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  had  a  mind  filled 
with  thoughts  of  economy,  and  he  made  his  mark  by  his 
grasp  of  the  intricacies  of  home  finance.  When  he  remem- 
bered the  Maori  War  in  New  Zealand,  he  shuddered  at  any 
repetition  of  the  experience  ;  and  if  one  thinks  of  the  five 
years  of  his  administration  between  1880  and  1885,  with 
the  Zulu  War  and  its  consequences  in  black  relief,  it  is 
possible  to  realise  why  the  disasters  of  that  struggle  should 
make  a  timid  Government  shy  of  sanctioning  the  annexa- 
tion policy  of  a  small  colony  like  Queensland,  when  in  1883 
Sir  Thomas  Mcllwraith  caused  the  flag  to  be  hoisted  in 
New  Guinea.  As  Dr.  Brown  on  one  occasion  went  over  the 
ground  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  larger  statesman- 
like view  of  the  Empire  had  a  hard  birth.  "  Lord  Stan- 
more,"  he  said,  "  thought  that  he  might  find  himself 
involved  in  a  native  war  in  Samoa.  He  was  quite  wrong, 
in  my  opinion,  and  I  told  him  so.  But  the  idea  in  his 
*  "  History  of  Twenty-Five  Years,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  27. 


GOVERNMENT  BY  PRECEPT         143 

mind  was  that  the  Samoans  were  so  quarrelsome,  and  might 
become  such  a  source  of  trouble  that  it  was  wiser  to  let 
well  alone.  Talleyrand's  advice  upon  the  writing  of 
letters  '  If  you  doubt,  don't '  was  Sir  Arthur's  guide.  He 
doubted  about  Samoa  and  he  didn't." 

Dr.  Brown  argued  that  this  question  of  expense  affected 
the  whole  situation  in  the  Pacific,  as  far  as  British  Govern- 
ments were  concerned,  because  Australia  at  first  would  not 
contribute.  They  did  not  know  enough  about  the  natives, 
and  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  himself  was  often  at  sea.  He  was 
afraid  of  catching  Tartars  ;  and  he  advised  against  the 
annexation  of  outlying  groups,  like  the  Solomons  and  the 
islands  further  to  the  west  and  north,  because  of  this 
danger.  Thus  was  Germany  mightily  assisted.  But  when 
talking  to  Lord  Stanmore,  Dr.  Brown,  with  his  knowledge 
of  the  native  mind  and  character  throughout  the  Pacific, 
scouted  the  idea  of  danger.  Recalling  the  above  con- 
versation with  him  when  first  Governor  of  Fiji,  he  said  : 
"  I  pointed  out  that  while  there  was  certainly  a  big  Tartar 
to  watch  in  Fiji  and  perhaps  in  Samoa,  the  only  Tartars 
in  the  other  groups  were  small  ones.  This  was  brought 
out,  too,  in  the  course  of  my  '  Carpe  Diem  '  papers  in  the 
Sydney  Morning  Herald,  when  the  late  Mr.  Bernard  Wise 
quoted  Sir  Arthur  Gordon  as  an  authority.  Why,  in  New 
Britain  I  found  people  only  five  miles  apart  who  could  not 
understand  one  another's  language.  They  were  as  much 
foreigners  to  one  another  as  if  they  lived  in  different  groups  ; 
and  in  one  case  when  I  was  determined  to  bring  the  people 
of  two  villages  together,  and  had  to  leave  hostages  before 
I  could  persuade  the  principal  men  to  come  with  me,  I 
found  among  them  old  men  who  had  never  been  outside 
the  narrow  boundaries  of  their  native  place.  This  was  a 


144  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

locality  in  which  the  village  borders  approached  within  a 
couple  of  miles  of  one  another,  and  the  villages  themselves 
were  certainly  not  five  miles  apart.  How  could  such 
people  combine  against  a  common  enemy  ?  And  how 
could  chiefs  who  were  aliens  to  their  neighbours,  and  could 
not  talk  to  them,  raise  any  following  in  the  country  ?  In 
Fiji  there  were  chiefs  exercising  great  authority,  and  if  they 
combined  against  Great  Britain  or  any  other  Power 
seeking  to  coerce  them  there  was  bound  to  be  serious 
trouble.  But  in  the  Solomons  and  elsewhere  the  position 
was  entirely  different.  The  chiefs  were  small  and  could 
never  combine  ;  and  actual  experience  has  shown  that  the 
people  may  be  easily  controlled  if  the  British  Government 
is  willing  to  appoint  the  right  men  and  spend  the  necessary 
money.  There  is  the  rub !  "  Then  one  recalled  the 
terrors  of  a  native  rising  in  Fiji,  so  constantly  referred  to 
in  the  letters  of  Dr.  Fison  before  annexation.  When  Sir 
Arthur  Gordon  went  to  Fiji  he  must  have  been  very  much 
impressed  with  the  fears  of  the  white  people  under  his 
jurisdiction,  and  he  naturally  read  into  every  new  situation 
the  possibility  of  a  repetition  of  the  New  Zealand  wars, 
with  an  ever  mounting  cost  to  haunt  him  like  a  dreadful 
nightmare  for  the  rest  of  his  days.  Britain's  despair  was 
Germany's  opportunity.  But  as  the  situation  worked  out 
it  was  always  more  and  more  difficult  to  deal  with  such  an 
insidious  foe.  Germany's  ambitions  had  grown  with  each 
advance  ;  and  the  consistent  progress  of  New  Zealand  and 
Australia  added  fuel  to  the  flame.  What  had  already  been 
accomplished  with  native  chiefs,  impressed  by  Britain's 
might  and  influenced  by  their  sense  of  British  justice, 
became  a  German  incentive — not  to  go  and  do  likewise, 
but  to  impose  a  yoke  upon  the  natives  which  would  only 


GOVERNMENT  BY  PRECEPT         145 

gall  and  exasperate  them.  Summing  up  the  situation,  it 
may  be  said  that  British  statesmen  were  never  less  logical 
than  in  the  decade  following  the  last  Maori  War  in  New 
Zealand,  and  Germany  never  more  logical  as  the  Gladstone 
hesitancies  were  capitalised  in  her  favour.  Germany 
scored  by  their  aid,  but  more  especially  because  of  the 
self-denying  labours  of  a  magnificent  band  of  British 
missionaries. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

CLEARING   A   WAY  FOB  GERMANY 

Samoa  a  whirlpool  of  mischief.  Colonel  de  Coetlogon. 
Stevenson  and  Moors  wait  upon  him.  The  interview  full  of 
Burprise.  Sir  John  Thurston  and  Stevenson.  Threat  of 
deportation.  Samoans  called  liars  and  thieves.  George 
Brown's  love  for  the  Samoans.  His  way  with  the  natives. 
An  incident  in  New  Britain.  A  treacherous  chief.  The 
missionary's  triumph.  Germany  again  benefited  by  British 
efforts. 

WHEN  Stevenson  went  to  Samoa  he  found  himself  in  a 
perfect  whirlpool  of  intrigue  and  mischief.  He  had  no 
special  interest  in  the  Samoans  except  such  as  his  own 
kindly  nature  prompted  ;  and  his  genius  was  only  quick- 
ened into  speech  and  action  at  last  because  he  saw  that  the 
natives,  practically  defenceless  against  German  pressure, 
were  actually  delivering  themselves  into  bondage.  Even 
then  his  genuine  missionary  instinct  prompted  an  attempt 
at  reconciliation  and  mutual  understanding  among  the 
contending  parties.  First  he  would  get  into  touch  with  his 
own  official  head  in  the  person  of  the  British  Consul,  Colonel 
de  Coetlogon.  Mr.  Moors,  in  his  book  "  With  Stevenson  in 
Samoa,"  calls  the  latter  "  a  Napoleonic  Consul  in  Samoa." 
It  is,  no  doubt,  true  that  Stevenson's  proposal  to  call  upon 
the  Colonel  was  at  first  an  impulse  of  his  somewhat  erratic 
genius  rather  than  a  thought  of  help  for  the  Samoans. 
But  he  certainly  wished  to  be  friends  with  his  own  country- 
man in  the  high  places  of  Samoan  control — or  lack  of  it. 
The  incident  of  his  failure,  as  told  by  Mr.  Moors,  is  only 


CLEARING  A  WAY   FOR  GERMANY     147 

mentioned  here  because  it  shows  how  constantly  Germany 
was  served  by  misunderstandings  between  the  official 
Briton  and  the  men  of  missionary  mind  throughout  the 
Pacific.  It  is  just  an  illustration,  on  the  other  side,  of  the 
continual  friction  that  has  marked  the  intercourse  between 
traders  and  missionaries  from  the  beginning.  Stevenson, 
then,  proposed  to  Moors  one  Sunday  morning  that  they 
should  call  upon  the  British  Consul.  The  two  friends  were 
standing  about  in  their  pyjamas,  and  Stevenson  suddenly 
announced  that  he  had  a  duty  to  perform.  He  had  been 
in  Apia  for  some  time  without  calling  on  Her  Britannic 
Majesty's  representative,  and  "  every  Briton  of  mark  should 
attend  to  such  a  duty  at  the  earliest  possible  moment." 
But  it  was  pointed  out  by  Moors  that  Colonel  de  Coetlogun 
was  a  new  arrival  himself  and  was,  in  effect,  a  typical  John 
Bull,  exclusive,  crusty,  and  pompous.  Why  not  wait  a 
while  and  give  the  Consul  a  chance  to  meet  them  without 
the  jolting  of  a  surprise  visit  ?  But  Stevenson  would  have 
none  of  it,  and  insisted  that  his  American  friend  should 
accompany  him  to  see  how  Britons  the  world  over  stood  by 
one  another. 

The  resulting  interview  was  full  of  surprise  for  Stevenson  ; 
for  the  Consul  positively  declined  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  him.  Stevenson  introduced  himself  by  name  and 
mentioned  his  status  in  the  world  of  letters,  bringing  in  his 
friend  as  an  American  of  mark  in  Apia.  All  he  was  given 
in  reply  was  a  gruff  :  "  Well,  what  do  you  want  ?  "  And 
after  a  further  interchange  the  final  word  in  effect  was  : 
" 1  don't  care  who  you  are — either  of  you  !  If  you  have 
any  business  at  this  Consulate,  come  and  state  it  at  the 
proper  time."*  Later  on,  apparently,  there  was  something 
*  "  With  Stevenson  in  Samoa,"  pp.  87 — 88. 

L2 


148  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

like  a  rapprochement,  though  Moors  never  heard  of  it ; 
and  in  "  A  Footnote  to  History  "  Stevenson  notes  that  the 
Colonel  did  his  duty  in  the  stern  old-fashioned  British  way, 
while  his  wife  endeared  herself  to  the  Samoans  by  her  nurs- 
ing in  the  times  of  stress  which  came  with  war  and  wounds. 
But  the  episode  is  typical  of  the  difficulties  which  surrounded 
intercourse,  at  a  time  when  Germany  was  making  all  the 
capital  possible  out  of  dissensions  among  the  Samoans  and 
misunderstandings  among  the  Europeans.  Stevenson,  in 
the  end,  wrote  to  The  Times,  published  his  "  Footnote  to 
History,"  and  was  practically  threatened  with  deportation 
by  Sir  John  Thurston,  High  Commissioner  for  the  Western 
Pacific.  British  subjects  in  the  Pacific  were  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  latter,  within  certain  well-defined  limits  ; 
and  Samoa  was  as  much  open  to  the  High  Commissioner's 
call  as  were  New  Britain  and  New  Ireland  in  1878,  when 
George  Brown  got  into  trouble  with  a  cannibal  chief  named 
Taleli.  It  did  not  matter  that  certain  islands  were  not 
under  the  British  flag,  or  indeed  under  any  other  flag. 
Stevenson  in  Samoa  could  have  been  deported  just  as  quickly 
as  George  Brown  would  have  been  from  New  Britain,  could 
Chief  Justice  Gorrie  have  got  hold  of  him,  and  as  effectively 
as  the  Rev.  Shirley  Baker  was  carried  off  from  Tonga  later 
on  by  Sir  John  Thurston  himself.  As  a  matter  of  fact  a 
"  Queen's  Regulation,"  framed  by  the  High  Commissioner, 
came  into  force  on  July  1st,  1893,  about  eighteen  months 
before  Stevenson's  death,  "  for  the  maintenance  of  peace 
and  good  order  in  Samoa "  ;  and  Stevenson  certainly 
thought  he  was  aimed  at  as  the  particular  disturber  of  the 
peace  in  Sir  John  Thurston's  mind.  One  of  the  clauses  of 
the  regulation  which  dealt  with  the  crime  of  sedition  by  any 
British  subject  in  Samoa  ran  : 


CLEARING  A  WAY  FOR  GERMANY     149 

"  The  expression  '  sedition  towards  the  Government 
of  Samoa  '  shall  embrace  all  practices,  whether  by 
word,  deed,  or  writing,  having  for  their  object  to 
bring  about  in  Samoa  public  disturbances  or  civil  war, 
and  generally  to  promote  public  disorder  in  the 
country."  * 

This  was  wide  enough  to  promise  something  like  martial 
law,  and  Stevenson  indicated  as  much  when  interviewed 
by  a  reporter  of  the  New  Zealand  Herald  during  a  trip  to 
Sydney.  With  the  above  regulation  before  him  he  said  : 
"  The  document  is  an  historical  curiosity,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  regulations  in  the  form  of  British  law 
which  this  century  has  produced.  The  definition  of 
'  sedition  '  is  unique  in  its  way.  It  is  '  seditious  '  to  say  a 
word  likely  to  bring  about  discontent  or  dissatisfaction 
with  the  existing  state  of  affairs."  When  asked  if  he  pro- 
posed to  leave  Samoa  he  retorted  :  "  Certainly  not — that 
is,  unless  I  am  deported.  That  Regulation  smells  of  martial 
law  ;  but  there  is  no  sign  of  war  in  the  islands,  though 
there  has  been  an  attempt  to  get  up  martial  law  over  a 
little  clan  quarrel  in  which  no  one  took  any  interest." 
When  this  interview  was  commented  on  by  the  London 
newspapers,  Sir  John  Thurston  happened  to  be  in  Sydney  ; 
and  the  Australian  press  published  a  cablegram  dealing 
with  the  matter.  The  question  of  jurisdiction  had  been 
raised  in  the  House  of  Commons,  consequent  upon  a  letter 
by  Stevenson  which  had  appeared  in  The  Times,  and 
generally  the  novelist  had  managed  to  raise  a  pretty  pother. 
Sir  John  Thurston  met  it  by  urging,  practically,  that  as  the 
cap  fitted  Stevenson  he  should  wear  it.  He  said,  almost  in 
as  many  words,  that  Stevenson  was  a  sedition-monger,  and 
*  "With  Stevenson  in  Samoa,"  p.  119. 


150  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

declared  that  the  trouble  in  Samoa  was  attributable  to 
"  the  unceasing  interference  and  meddlesomeness  of 
irresponsible  persons."  What,  then,  had  Stevenson  been 
doing  ?  He  had  undoubtedly  sympathised  with  Mataafa, 
and  "  A  Footnote  to  History  "  sets  forth  the  facts.  But, 
more  than  that,  he  had  found  in  the  Samoans  something 
infinitely  better  than  Sir  John  Thurston  had  indicated  in  a 
recent  criticism.  The  High  Commissioner  for  the  Western 
Pacific  had  called  them  liars  and  thieves.  In  his  report  to 
the  Foreign  Office,  embodied  in  the  Blue  Book  on  Samoa 
(1885 — 1889),  he  condemned  them  as  "  an  excitable,  voluble, 
credulous  people,  much  given  to  lying  and  the  circulation 
of  false  or  extravagant  rumours.  In  some  degree  they  are 
thieves  by  instinct,  and  in  many  cases  are  now  so  by 
necessity."  The  category  of  their  vices  and  follies  is  set 
forth  in  several  bitter  paragraphs,  and  the  British  Govern- 
ment must  have  listened  sympathetically  to  the  German 
comment  endorsing  it  all.  Yet  it  was  not  so  long  after  this 
that  Stevenson  was  honoured  by  the  making  of  a  road  to 
his  property  by  Samoan  chiefs  released  from  prison,  to 
whom  the  work  was  a  genuine  burden,  though  made  light 
by  love  of  Tusitala.  Stevenson  had  learned  to  know  them, 
and  out  of  his  understanding  came  a  conflict  with  the  men 
who  could  see  nothing  but  their  weaknesses,  or  who,  like 
the  Germans,  hated  them  for  their  strength,  even  in 
division. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  turn  from  Stevenson 
to  George  Brown.  The  latter  knew  the  Samoans  even 
better  than  the  sympathetic  Scot,  whose  clear  mind  and 
flamelike  spirit  grasped  so  much ;  and  from  one  German 
sphere  of  interest  he  went  to  another,  where  the  High  Com- 
missioner for  the  Western  Pacific  would  have  followed  to 


CLEARING  A  WAY  FOR  GERMANY    151 

arrest  him  had  a  British  warship  been  available.     George 
Brown  was  a  missionary  with  the  full  machinery  of  his 
Church  behind  him,  no  doubt,  but  twin  brother  to  Steven- 
son in  his  earnestness  and  disregard  for  conventions.     When 
he  went  to  Samoa  he  was  determined  to  enter  into  the  mind 
of  the  natives  and  to  try  to  understand  their  character  and 
outlook.     The  Samoan  is  essentially  a  child  of  the  sun  and 
the  sea,  and  he  lives,  and  will  always  live,  open  to  the 
influences  of  a  Nature  wrought  from  colours  and  forces  of 
infinitely  greater  range  than  people  of  the  temperate  region 
know  anything  about.     To  order  these  people  to  abandon 
their  songs  and  their  flowers,  their  feasts  and  their  fighting, 
their  fishing  and  their  fun,  for  German  ways  and  a  sober 
daily  routine,  reft  of  music  and  mirth,  was  to  test  them  too 
highly ;  while  to  dress  them  in  European  clothes  was  surely 
to  kill  them  out,  even  in  their  own  natural  environment. 
For  instance,  in  the  earlier  days,  a  native  poet  had  turned 
the  truths  of  the  Bible  and  some  of  the  stirring  incidents 
of  Biblical  history  into  Samoan  songs,  and  set  them  to  the 
old  processional  music  of  the  heathen  religion.     These  went 
among  the  people  with  a  new  message,  and  were  repeated 
and  sung  by  them  until  it  seemed  that  nothing  else  was 
worthy  thought  or  tongue.     The  poet  had  appealed  to  his 
own  folk,  just  as  Burns  touched  Scotland  to  a  new  sense  of 
beauty  and  power  ;  and,  as  a  Samoan  discovery,  the  songs 
ought  to  have  been  the  missionaries'  greatest  asset.     But 
the  principal  men  among  the  latter  became  frightened. 
The  success  was  too  great.     The  power  let  loose  was  too 
uncertain  in  their  unimaginative  grasp.     The  little  books 
were  all  called  in  and  destroyed,  and  the  songs  placed  under 
an  interdict.     Ever  afterwards  George  Brown  mourned  the 
missionary  madness  which  robbed  Samoa  of  one  of  its  finest 


152  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

achievements,  and  he  condemned  the  holocaust  in  un- 
measured terms.     Like  Stevenson,  he  was  moved  with  a 
passion  of  sympathy  for  the  Samoan,  which  became  in 
time  a  vision  enabling  him  to  understand  all  natives  in  the 
Pacific,  and  to  interpret  them  to  the  white  man  willing  to 
listen.     It  brought  him  into  conflict  with  his  brethren,  not 
necessarily  in  angry  dispute,  but  in  constant  representation 
of  another  point  of  view  than  that  of  the  average  mission- 
ary.    He  has  his  own  philosophy  of  clothes,  for  instance, 
and  would  aver  that  among  naked  savages  he  has  found  the 
rarest  modesty.     A  black  maiden,  with  not  even  Mother 
Eve's  adornment  of  a  fig  leaf,  would  blush  at  the  breaking 
of  some  native  convention,  but  never  at  the  sight  or  thought 
of  the  naked  men  or  women  around  her.     George  Brown 
saw  the  natives  of  many  groups  under  all  conditions  of  life 
and  well  or  ill  being,  but  he  did  not  argue  that  the  native 
needed  clothing  in  self-protection,  but  rather  to  serve  and 
save  the  European.     As  to  the  dying  out  of  native  races, 
he  insisted  that  there  was  no  reason  why  they  should  dis- 
appear even  in  constant  contact  with  the  white  man.     The 
latter  must  learn  to  know  the  native  and  his  ways  and 
needs.     There  must  be  as  much  give  as  take.     This  was 
not  an  apology  for  the  savage,  nor  was  it  an  attack  upon 
the  European  ;   it  was  simply  a  plea  for  that  fuller  mutual 
knowledge  to  which  his  whole  life  among  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific  had  been  devoted. 

Nothing  could  better  illustrate  the  whole  missionary 
relation  to  the  natives  than  a  little  comment  upon  one 
extract  from  George  Brown's  diary,  dated  July  10th,  1878. 
This  was  in  the  year  of  his  most  difficult  experience  as  a 
missionary.  He  had  been  obliged  to  take  up  arms  in  self- 
defence  against  bloodthirsty  savages,  intent  upon  killing 


CLEARING   A  WAY   FOR  GERMANY     153 

and  eating  the  native  teachers  and  their  families  and  every 
white  man  and  woman  in  New  Britain ;  this  was  after  the 
cruel  murder  of  some  of  the  native  teachers  for  whom  he 
was  responsible.      As  Stevenson  remarks  in  his  Vailima 
"Letters,"    the   missionary  world    had    been   roused    to 
excited  protest,  and  the  great  Powers  had  been  obliged  to 
make  a  note.     The  extract  runs  :    "  Left  the  ship  very 
early  and  went  on  shore  to  see  To  Porapora,  and  after  long 
waiting  I  managed  to  get  the  diwara  from  him  which  he 
stole  from  the  Diwawon  chief.     Went  on  board  to  break- 
fast and  then  started  at  9.30  a.m.     Called  at  Karavia  and 
bought  food,  etc.,  and  spoke  to  them  about  teachers  and 
told  them  not  to  listen  to  the  foolish  stories  told  them  by 
other  natives.     Then  went  on  to  Diwawon  and  returned 
the  diwara  which  I  had  got  from  To  Porapora.     This  will 
do  more  than  anything  to  assure  the  natives  of  our  sincerity 
and  truthfulness.     Then  went  to  Raluana  and  stayed  there 
some  time  to  cook,  etc.     Left  Raluana  at  about  half-past 
5  p.m.     We  had  a  very  strong  breeze  most  of  the  way  over. 
Reached  the  house  at  11  o'clock  very  tired,  as  I  had  to 
attend  to  the  engine  myself  all  the  day."     There  is  a  whole 
book,  not  part  of  a  chapter  only,  behind  this  simple  note  in 
a  diary,  made  up  of  more  blank  leaves  than  full.     The 
writer  was  too  busy  and  generally  too  tired,  when  he  was 
not  absolutely  ill,  to  write  the  story  that  can  now  only  be 
given  in  fragments  ;    but  the  stray  entries  reveal  the  true 
man  behind.     His  one  thought  was  to  give  the  natives  a 
gospel  of  truth  and  sincerity.    All  his  life  in  the  Pacific  was  a 
preaching,  not  so  much  of  the  words  of  Christianity  as  of  its 
spirit,  shown  by  service  and  self-denial,  by  perfect  straight- 
forwardness, and  by  that  keeping  of  faith  which  is  more  than 
half  the  battle  in  every  controversy  between  man  and  man. 


154  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

In  this  particular  instance  native  trickery  had  threatened 
to  accomplish  what  native  treachery  had  failed  to  do.  The 
Mission  had  been  in  danger  of  instant  annihilation,  follow- 
ing a  brutal  murder,  and  only  the  missionary's  manliness 
and  courage  had  saved  the  day.  He  had  headed  the  party 
of  white  men  in  New  Britain,  so  few  in  number,  and  they 
had  taught  the  natives  a  salutary  lesson.  But  just  when 
he  had  made  peace  with  the  natives  responsible  for  the 
outrage,  and  had  told  them  in  the  most  definite  terms  that 
nothing  more  was  to  be  done — that  the  last  word  had  been 
said  and  they  were  forgiven — one  of  the  friendly  chiefs,  To 
Porapora,  had  played  a  very  dirty  trick.  He  had  gone 
among  the  people  of  Diwawon,  a  coast  village  that  had  been 
burnt  during  the  attack  of  the  friendly  natives  and  white 
men,  and  had  declared  that  the  missionary  had  ordered  him 
to  collect  from  them  a  hundred  fathoms  of  diwara,  the  shell 
money  of  the  group.  It  was  a  heavy  fine  coming  after  a 
most  solemn  assurance  of  reconciliation  and  forgiveness. 
George  Brown  was  very  angry  when  he  heard  of  it,  and  he 
saw  at  once  the  mischief  that  would  be  done  unless  he  again 
acted  promptly.  As  soon  as  he  could  get  away  he  hunted 
out  To  Porapora  and  demanded  back  the  diwara.  To 
Porapora  laughed.  It  was  a  good  joke  to  him.  The  idea 
of  being  able  to  take  so  much  money  by  asking  for  it  in  the 
missionary's  name  was  novel,  and  had  proved  fruitful,  but 
it  showed  that  at  any  rate  George  Brown  had  more  power 
as  a  punisher  of  evil  deeds  than  had  been  supposed  possible 
at  the  outset.  After  some  direct  speech,  however,  To 
Porapora  promised  to  return  the  diwara,  and  again  played 
the  trickster  by  not  keeping  his  word.  It  was  all  part  of 
the  joke.  To  Porapora  had  helped  to  punish  the  Diwawon 
natives,  and  why  should  he  not  take  his  tale  of  tribute  from 


CLEARING  A  WAY  FOR  GERMANY     155 

them  ?  But  after  a  second,  and  third,  laughing  promise  to 
return  the  diwara,  not  kept  but  always  repeated,  George 
Brown  at  last  brought  him  to  reason.  The  missionary 
knew  a  native  custom  in  debt-collecting  which  caused  the 
wily  chief  to  become  very  serious  all  at  once.  When  one 
chief  owes  a  debt,  which  is  not  paid  after  due  request,  the 
creditor  will  go  to  another  chief  of  higher  rank  or  greater 
power,  and  pay  him,  say,  ten  per  cent,  of  the  amount  due. 
That  is  the  debt-collector's  commission.  Then  the  second 
chief  will  go  to  the  debtor  and  demand  and  obtain  the  full 
amount  owing,  and  another  ten  per  cent,  in  addition.  That 
is  to  say  he  gets  twenty  per  cent,  on  the  little  transaction. 
So  George  Brown  said  to  To  Porapora :  "  Very  well,  don't 
trouble  about  this  trifling  matter  ;  I  will  go  to  so  and  so," 
naming  another  chief  in  the  neighbourhood,  "  and  get  him 
to  ask  you  for  it  at  some  other  time."  This  was  quite 
enough,  and  after  a  little  parley  to  gain  time,  To  Porapora 
set  about  securing  the  hundred  fathoms  of  diwara,  which 
was  duly  returned  and  accepted. 

But  the  lesson,  as  far  as  the  Diwawon  natives  were  con- 
cerned, and  indeed  as  far  as  To  Porapora  himself  was  a 
pupil,  had  only  begun.  This  cunning  chief  quite  thought 
that  George  Brown  would  keep  the  money  collected  in  his 
name.  That  would  be  the  natural  thing  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  To  Porapora  respected  the  missionary  because 
he  had  proved  the  stronger  in  a  trial  of  wits.  But  the  tired 
white  man  had  not  finished  his  day's  work,  and  after  a  short 
rest  started  the  engines  of  his  little  steamer  for  Diwawon. 
The  diwara  had  to  be  returned,  but  with  necessary  pre- 
caution, and  in  proper  order.  It  would  never  do  to  hand 
it  back  in  a  lump,  as  according  to  native  custom  that  would 
only  count  as  one  in  the  payment,  whereas  there  were  many 


156  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

people  to  placate  and  impress.  The  hundred  fathoms  had 
to  be  tied  up  in  bundles  of  ten,  and  when  Diwawon  was 
reached  the  natives  of  the  village  had  to  be  brought  together 
with  proper  form  and  ceremony.  They  were  as  little 
expecting  that  the  missionary  would  return  their  money  as 
was  To  Porapora,  though  it  had  been  promised  them  ;  and 
their  astonishment,  after  George  Brown  had  recounted  the 
facts  and  obtained  their  assent  to  his  statement  of  the  case, 
was  remarkable.  There  had  never  been  anything  like  the 
proposal  to  return  plunder  in  this  fashion.  Then  came  the 
climax  as  one  and  another  was  called  out  and  ten  fathoms 
of  diwara  was  flung  to  him  from  the  launch.  George  Brown 
had  anchored  just  off  the  beach  and  had  made  his  little  ship 
a  pulpit,  just  as  the  great  Teacher  had  done  on  one  occasion 
when  the  crowd  thronged  too  thickly  upon  Him.  The 
natives  clucked  and  exclaimed,  placing  their  hands  to  their 
mouths  as  they  do  when  excited,  and  altogether  the  lesson 
was  well  timed  and  well  learned.  But  it  was  not  intended 
to  be  dramatic  in  the  sense  that  the  chief  actor  thought  of 
himself  at  all.  George  Brown  was  simply  realising  his 
desire  to  be  fair  and  honest  with  every  man,  brown  or 
white,  and  his  wrath  and  indignation  over  the  trick  played 
upon  him  were  so  deep  that  he  was  obliged  to  clear  himself 
in  the  fullest  measure. 

Stevenson  and  George  Brown  represent  an  influence  from 
the  British  and  American  side  which  has  been  operating 
constantly  in  the  Pacific  for  more  than  a  century.  The 
United  States  has  sent  out  missionaries  in,  and  out  of, 
ecclesiastical  uniform  ;  and  through  the  Carolines  and  in 
the  Philippines  their  work  has  been  fruitful  in  many  ways. 
But,  wherever  the  white  man  has  gone,  it  has  never  been 
the  German  who  has  blazed  a  trail  for  civilisation  in  lives 


CLEARING  A  WAY  FOR   GERMANY     157 

laid  down  and  crosses  taken  up.  German  missionaries 
have  wrought,  no  doubt,  but  they  have  been  few  and  far 
between.  Where  they  have  reached  the  Pacific  under  the 
German  order  and  discipline  they  have  been  part  of  the 
German  machine.  Land  was  reserved  for  them,  work  was 
done  on  their  behalf  by  native  labour  in  the  German  way, 
and  natives  were  flogged  for  them  as  a  matter  of  course. 
They  were  as  truly  under  State  management  and  control 
as  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Germany.  They  touched  no 
native  problem  or  perplexity  to  some  happy  and  unexpected 
solution,  but  instead  complicated  it  exceedingly.  The 
British  missionary  at  his  best,  on  the  other  hand,  was  ever 
moving  on  the  face  of  the  waters  and  bringing  order  out  of 
chaos.  He  was  a  constant  nuisance,  it  is  true,  and 
traders  and  administrators  frequently  exchanged  epithets 
about  him.  But  men  like  Stevenson  cared  nothing  for 
hard  words,  and  only  worked  the  more  determinedly  for 
fair  play  and  honest  dealing  as  between  Europeans  and  the 
native,  wherever  he  was  being  pushed  to  the  wall.  Word 
of  this  wonderful  thing  travelled  throughout  the  Pacific, 
and  the  name  of  George  Brown,  for  instance,  became  a 
talisman.  Germany  worked  magic  with  it  and  approved 
of  the  missionary  enterprise  he  represented.  But  no  one 
was  more  emphatic  than  he  that  German  possessions  should 
not  be  returned  after  the  war  ;  and  this  is  the  summing  up 
of  the  matter  for  all  who  have  common  sense,  and  who  only 
ask  for  justice  as  between  the  white  man  and  the  brown. 


CHAPTER  XV 

ASSETS   IN    ADMINISTRATION 

The  MacGregor  Reports  from  New  Guinea.  Australia's 
crisis  in  1893.  A  MacGregor  wanted.  Twenty  years  after 
in  Queensland.  The  strong  man  in  the  Pacific.  Found  only 
to  be  transferred  elsewhere.  Sir  John  Thurston.  A  critical 
moment  in  Samoan  history.  The  naval  man  in  action.  Sir 
William  MacGregor  and  the  Fijian  chiefs.  The  German 
spirit  again. 

WHEN  turning  over  some  papers  upon  Pacific  affairs 
recently  the  present  writer  took  up  a  spare  copy  of  one  of 
the  MacGregor  reports  from  British  New  Guinea  and  found 
that  it  contained  a  document  of  unusual  interest.  It  was 
the  report  for  1892,  and,  as  usual,  was  full  of  good  matter. 
But  though  Sir  William  MacGregor  had  not  written  the 
article,  or  part  of  an  article,  which  greeted  the  eye  like 
treasure  trove,  yet  it  was  in  familiar  handwriting,  the  work 
of  one  of  Australia's  best  known  publicists  ;  and  it  dealt 
with  more  than  the  achievements  of  a  remarkable  man. 
In  1893,  when  the  scribe  took  up  his  pen,  Australia  was 
passing  through  a  cruel  strain  after  a  financial  and  indus- 
trial crisis,  which  had,  indeed,  been  world  wide  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year.  In  the  Antipodes,  under  the 
Southern  Cross,  it  was  like  the  recovery  from  a  heavy 
carouse — the  morning  after  a  desperate  debauch — for  a 
great  land-boom  had  burst,  and  the  withdrawal  of  millions 
of  money  by  scared  British  investors  had  added  woe  to 
woe.  This,  with  unprecedented  floods  and  their  consequent 
damage  in  Queensland,  resulted  in  a  general  collapse  of 


ASSETS   IN  ADMINISTRATION         159 

public  confidence.  The  political  world  also  was  in  just  as 
great  turmoil  as  the  financial,  and  altogether  the  Jeremiahs 
of  the  day  were  enjoying  themselves.  Even  the  robust 
common  sense  and  large  statesmanship  of  Sir  Thomas 
Mcllwraith,  who  was  Premier  of  Queensland,  suffered 
shipwreck.  When,  therefore,  the  able  and  far-seeing  writer 
of  this  incomplete  article  expressed  confidence  in  the  future 
of  the  continent,  and  particularly  in  the  actual  soundness 
of  the  young  colony  in  the  north  of  it,  he  was  laughed  to 
scorn.  At  a  public  meeting  at  which  Sir  Thomas  made  a 
speech  the  matter  was  referred  to  in  terms  of  indignation, 
that  any  one  could  so  misread  the  signs  of  the  times. 
Where  could  there  be  room  for  confidence  ?  Great  bridges 
in  the  city  of  Brisbane  itself  had  been  carried  away  by 
flood,  and  there  seemed  to  be  little  solid  footing  for  the 
anxious  political  leader,  looking  out  upon  a  world  of  water, 
actual  and  metaphorical.  Into  the  whirlpool  came  this 
report  by  Sir  William  MacGregor ;  and  a  copy  reached  a 
certain  cheery  optimist  who  had  not  long  before  travelled 
through  Canada  and  the  United  States,  where  men  inured 
to  financial  panics  and  broken  land-booms  had  mocked  at 
Australia's  little  misery  over  such  an  experience.  "  Why," 
said  one  wise  man  in  Seattle,  "  we  have  had  more  banks 
smash  in  this  city  in  a  forenoon  than  all  Australia  has 
enjoyed  in  a  week  or  a  month.  Australians  will  soon  get 
busy  and  the  experience  will  do  them  good."  It  was  the 
truth  to  the  last  letter  ;  but  the  traveller,  returning  home, 
found  it  only  so  much  reinforcement  for  a  conclusion 
already  reached. 

Looking  through  the  manuscript  of  this  uncompleted 
article,  left  in  the  heart  of  the  MacGregor  report  as  a 
whimsical  commentary  upon  its  strength  and  sanity, 


160  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

another  student  of  affairs  has  found  strange  wisdom  in  its 
conclusions,  as  applied  to  the  Pacific  and  to  Germany's 
ways  therein.  Much  of  the  writing  could  apply  to  present 
Australian  conditions,  with  their  political  restlessness  and 
instability  ;  but  in  1893  labour  longings  had  become  vocal, 
and  everybody  wanted  a  great  leader,  though  few  realised 
what  they  did  want.  The  writer,  to  continue  with  the  news 
of  a  discovery  just  made,  summarised  it  all  in  singularly 
trenchant  sentences.  A  report  by  Sir  William  MacGregor, 
with  its  astonishing  revelation  of  power,  had  shown  the 
man  needed  for  Queensland's  recovery.  Here  he  was  in 
full  flower  and  quite  near.  Why  not  give  him  a  trial  as 
autocrat  ?  Let  Parliament  be  closed,  its  members  and 
ministers  be  dismissed,  and  give  Sir  William  MacGregor 
the  job  of  bringing  order  out  of  chaos.  The  article  stopped 
just  as  it  was  working  to  its  climax,  and  probably  because 
it  was  a  piece  of  humorous  criticism  that  could  not  be 
completed  in  any  vein  of  serious  application.  But  it  is 
certainly  a  capital  illustration  of  how  one  strong  man  may 
affect  another.  It  presents  Sir  William  MacGregor  as  the 
doer  of  great  deeds  and  the  true  example  of  the  builder  of 
Empire,  most  successful  when  left  to  himself.  Strangely 
enough,  one's  thought  came  forward  twenty  years  further, 
when  Sir  William  was  Governor  of  Queensland  and  a  general 
strike  had  been  declared  which  threatened  to  starve  and 
destroy  the  city  of  Brisbane,  while  turning  Government  and 
all  Government  business  upside  down.  After  a  week 
of  almost  civil  war,  order  was  restored  and  an  incipient 
revolution  was  crushed ;  but  it  was  the  presence  of  Sir 
William  MacGregor  at  Government  House  in  Brisbane 
which  helped  to  maintain  the  courage  and  confidence  of 
those  who  fought  for  law  and  order.  This  is  another  story. 


ASSETS  IN  ADMINISTRATION        161 

It  is  enough  that  the  man  so  strong  in  British  New  Guinea 
was  found  to  be  like  "  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land  "  when  Australia  most  needed  him. 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  need  for  great  men  was  never 
more  urgent  anywhere  than  in  the  Pacific  during  the  forty 
years  that  had  elapsed  since  Sir  William  MacGregor  took 
up  duty  as  Chief  Medical  Officer  in  Fiji.  Between  1874 
and  1914  Germany  and  Great  Britain  were  continually  face 
to  face,  rarely  with  British  consciousness  of  the  gravity  of 
the  struggle,  and  consequently  nearly  always  with  a  German 
certainty  that  the  balance  of  advantage  lay  with  the  Father- 
land. But  especially  did  Great  Britain  fail  where  she 
deliberately  chose  men  to  represent  her  in  the  Pacific. 
When  Sir  William  MacGregor  was  appointed  Administrator 
of  British  New  Guinea  in  1888  it  was  because  Australian, 
not  British,  statesmen  had  discovered  his  wonderful  worth 
and  were  prepared  to  share  in  the  expense  of  looking  after 
a  new  possession.  Sir  Samuel  Griffith's  acumen,  after 
getting  to  close  quarters  with  the  shrewd  and  capable 
Scotsman,  was  responsible  for  the  new  appointment.  It 
was  not  the  Colonial  Office  in  London  that  found  this 
Empire-builder  of  the  first  order.  When  an  exceptionally 
able  man  like  Sir  Francis  May  was  sent  to  Fiji,  and  in  1912 
was  making  his  power  felt,  the  Colonial  Office  transferred 
him  to  Hong  Kong.  Sir  Charles  Eliot  has  recently  been 
sent  to  Vladivostock  as  British  plenipotentiary,  thus  being 
advertised  to  the  world  as  the  ablest  man  for  a  most  difficult 
post  that  could  be  found.  But  Sir  Charles  was  in  the 
Pacific  long  before  as  British  representative  on  an  important 
commission  in  which  Germany  was  concerned ;  and  he 
proved  then  his  qualification  as  leader  and  statesman.  He 
was,  however,  too  good  to  be  kept  in  the  Great  Ocean,  and 

S.O.  M 


162  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

so  has  been  building  the  Empire  elsewhere,  though  nowhere 
more  urgently  wanted  than  in  the  Pacific.  When  Sir 
William  MacGregor  himself  was  due  for  a  Governorship  in 
Australia,  and  before  he  was  permitted  to  become  Governor 
of  Queensland,  he  was  sent  first  to  Lagos  for  a  long  term 
and  then  to  Newfoundland.  He  had  at  last  been  discovered 
by  the  Colonial  Office,  but  always  the  urgency  of  need  was 
outside  the  Pacific,  never  inside.  Even  Sir  George  Grey 
in  the  earlier  days  was  found  to  be  a  nuisance  in  New 
Zealand  because  he  was  not  afraid  of  responsibility,  and 
was  strong  enough  to  insist  upon  the  right  course  being 
pursued  in  the  teeth  of  official  opposition  in  London.  One 
cannot  help  thinking  also  of  Mr.  (now  Sir)  Basil  Thomson, 
whose  term  in  the  Pacific  has  made  him  such  an  authority 
upon  it,  and  whose  books  are  of  enduring  interest.  His 
abilities  have  been  engaged  in  London  in  dealing  with  the 
problems  of  prison  reform  and  much  beside,  to  the  advantage 
of  the  Empire  at  large  ;  but  a  decade  of  his  help  at  the 
Antipodes  would  have  been  a  finer  asset  for  Australasia. 

But  it  was  not  Germany's  intriguing  alone  that  demanded 
the  finest  administrators  for  British  possessions  in  the 
Pacific.  The  natives  required  them,  because  only  such 
leading  as  chiefs  give  could  appeal  to  them — especially 
where  Polynesians  were  dominant.  Thus  one  tries  to 
imagine  what  would  have  happened  in  the  Pacific  during 
the  critical  years  following  Germany's  jump  upon  New 
Guinea  had  Sir  William  MacGregor  instead  of  Sir  John 
Thurston  been  appointed  Governor  of  Fiji  and  High  Com- 
missioner for  the  Western  Pacific.  He  was  indeed  made 
Administrator  more  than  once,  and  was  always  behind 
the  various  departmental  activities  of  the  group.  Thus 
he  took  up  gubernatorial  duties  in  1885,  after  Sir  William 


ASSETS  IN  ADMINISTRATION         163 

des  Voeux  had  retired  and  before  Sir  John  Thurston  was 
permanently  appointed.     The  latter,  as  has  already  been 
shown,  was  doing  delicate  and  difficult  work  in  connection 
with  Samoa  and  in  the  definition  with  Germany  of  spheres 
of  interest  in  the  Pacific.     Sir  John  Thurston  had  made 
many  friends.     Dr.  George  Brown  was  an  admirer,    and 
Sir  Arthur  Gordon,  as  first  Governor  of  Fiji,  found  him  a 
tower  of  strength.     No  one  apparently  knew  the  natives 
better  than  he  did  ;    and  his  proposals  for  dealing  with 
them  were  based  upon  an  understanding  of  their  environ- 
ment and  weaknesses  which  could  only  have  been  reached 
after  long  years  of  residence  among  them.     Yet  while  Sir 
John  Thurston  was  a  good  illustration  of  the  official  brought 
into  power  in  the  Pacific  by  local  conditions,   he  had 
neither  on  one  side  the  experience  of  world  politics  which 
makes  the  statesman,  nor  on  the  other  the  natural  genius 
which  compensates  for  the  lack  of  experience.    Because  he 
could  not  see  any  good  in  the  Samoans,  he  had  to  agree 
with   Germany  when    he  was  discussing   certain  details 
with  her  ;  nor  could  he  find  sense  in  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son, since  he  also  was  in  the  way  with  Germany,  but  dis- 
covered her  to  be  an  enemy  not  a  friend.     There  was  little 
of  the  breadth  and  strength  which  must  go  together  in 
future  administrators  in  the  Pacific,   and  which  should 
have  been  recognised   as  imperative  ingredients  in  the 
character  of  British  governors  and  leaders  in  those  critical 
years  of  Germany's  encroachments  between  1870  and  1900. 
Naval  officers  frequently  displayed  the  force  of  character 
requisite  for  complicated  situations,  and  did  the  right  thing 
in  a  masterful  way  so  that  more  than  once  Germany  was 
checkmated.     Through    them    the    situation    was    really 
saved.     There  was  a  moment  in  Samoan  history  when 


164  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

German  and  British  war  vessels  were  almost  at  grips  ;  and 
thirty  years  ago  it  became  a  question  for  instant  decision 
whether  Great  Britain  would  not  be  hand  in  hand  with 
the  United  States  against  Germany.  Needless  to  say  the 
decision  rested  with  a  German  admiral,  not  with  Captain 
Kane  of  the  Calliope.  This  was  just  before  the  hurricane 
which  gave  the  latter  fame  and  placed  his  vessel  high  up 
in  the  list  of  great  things  accomplished  by  British  warships. 
It  may  also  be  remarked  that  the  incidents  to  be  summarised 
briefly  at  this  point  are  not  recounted  in  Stevenson's  "  A 
Footnote  to  History  "  except  as  to  one  fact — the  first  in 
order  of  naval  tactics.  After  the  commission  of  which  Sir 
John  Thurston  was  a  member  had  visited  Samoa  events 
had  reached  a  critical  stage  in  the  group.  Germany 
assumed  authority  to  search  incoming  vessels  at  Apia  and 
the  British  steamer  Richmond  was  visited  in  the  high- 
handed German  way.  A  passenger  was  taken  off  and  a 
British  man-of-war  boat  was  fired  upon.  An  abject 
apology  was  afterwards  tendered,  but  the  British  Vice- 
Admiral  on  the  Australian  station  thought  that  it  was 
time  to  take  action.  Germany  was  proposing  to  seize 
certain  territory  in  Samoa  and  had  assembled  a  squadron 
which  was  altogether  too  powerful  for  the  American  war- 
ships on  the  spot  to  withstand,  in  their  protest  on  behalf 
of  the  United  States.  So  the  Calliope  under  Captain  Kane 
was  despatched.  The  German  attempt  to  take  the  land 
in  question  was  frustrated  by  a  clever  manoeuvre  which 
placed  the  gunboat  Lizard  between  the  German  squadron 
and  its  objective,  so  that  nothing  could  be  done  except  by 
force  of  arms,  for  which  the  German  admiral  was  not 
ready.  As  the  Lizard  refused  to  move  the  German  squadron 
had  to  retire,  much  to  the  chagrin  of  its  officers  and  crews. 


ASSETS  IN  ADMINISTRATION        165 

When  another  cause  of  friction  arose  the  result  was  the 
same,  but  after  much  more  apparent  likelihood  of  conflict. 
Mr.  Hector  C.  Bywater,  former  Berlin  correspondent  of  the 
Naval  and  Military  Record,  gives  the  incident  in  the 
following  terms  : — "  A  few  weeks  later  the  British  steamer 
Stockton  was  observed  entering  the  port.  The  Germans 
made  ready  to  board  her,  but  a  boat's  crew  from  the 
Calliope  got  there  first,  and  when  a  German  officer  came 
alongside  he  was  told  that  the  steamer  was  in  charge  of  the 
British  naval  authorities.  He  requested  permission  to 
remain  on  board  while  he  sent  his  boat  back  for  instructions. 
Meanwhile  Captain  Kane  visited  the  German  flagship  Olga, 
and  informed  the  admiral  that  unless  he  recalled  his  officer 
the  latter  would  be  forcibly  removed  from  the  Stockton. 
He  then  returned  to  the  Calliope.  General  quarters  were 
sounded,  and  the  ship  was  cleared  for  action,  with  her  guns 
so  trained  as  to  cover  every  ship  in  the  German  squadron. 
Some  minutes  of  breathless  excitement  followed,  and 
nowhere  was  the  tension  greater  than  on  board  the  American 
men-of-war,  for  there  is  little  doubt  that  if  the  Germans 
had  shown  fight,  the  Americans  would  have  made  common 
cause  with  the  British.  But  the  Huns  lost  their  nerve, 
and  decided  that  discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valour. 
The  German  officer  on  the  Stockton  was  signalled  to  return. 
He  was  in  a  dilemma,  for  his  own  boat  was  away.  In  the 
end  he  had  to  go  off  in  a  British  man-of-war's  boat.  As  he 
went  over  the  side  the  American  warships  manned  yards, 
and  their  bands  struck  up  '  Rule  Britannia,'  to  the  strains 
of  which  the  German  lieutenant  was  rowed  back  to  his  ship. 
This  humiliating  incident  taught  the  Huns  a  badly-needed 
lesson,  and  thereafter  Captain  Kane  was  treated  by  them 
with  all  due  respect.  In  fact,  so  impressed  were  they  by 


166  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

his  resolute  attitude  that  they  never  ventured  to  move  a 
ship  without  first  obtaining  his  formal  sanction." 

These  happenings  may  be  recalled  as  interesting  in  the 
new  light  of  the  great  war,  but  they  do  not  impress  one 
so  much  as  others  that  may  be  mentioned  as  showing  the 
difference  in  the  spirit  of  British  and  German  administra- 
tion throughout  the  Pacific.  Sir  William  MacGregor's 
wonderful  record  in  British  New  Guinea  stands  by  itself  in 
this  regard.  There  is  nothing  comparable  to  it  in  German 
colonial  history ;  and  Germany  can  only  retort  that  it 
probably  would  never  have  been  made  possible  unless 
Great  Britain's  hands  had  been  forced  by  her  in  the  first 
instance.  Sir  William  also  was  sent  to  the  scene  of  his 
marvellous  work  more  like  a  marooned  sailor  than  as  a 
powerful  administrator  with  an  adequate  naval  and 
military  force  to  help  him.  Yet  he  brought  into  sub- 
jection Britain's  reluctantly  accepted  share  of  the  greatest 
island  in  the  world  ;  partly  because  a  great  Scotsman,  in 
Chalmers,  had  prepared  the  way  with  the  weapons  of 
spiritual  warfare,  and  largely  otherwise  because  he  domi- 
nated men  by  his  wisdom  and  force  of  character.  This  is 
what  has  been  moving  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific  since  British  and  American  missionaries  and 
administrators  appeared  there,  to  make  great  gains  for 
their  Empires  but  never  for  themselves.  And  the  story  of 
it  has  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  through  the  various 
island  groups,  until  Stevenson,  when  he  despaired  of  peace 
for  the  unhappy  Samoans,  could  cry  aloud  for  a  MacGregor 
and  his  schooner.  In  the  days  when  Germany  lied  and 
prevaricated  her  way  into  power  in  the  Pacific,  the  white 
man  at  his  best  was  represented  by  an  Englishman  or  a 
Scotsman,  never  by  a  German  ;  and  it  has  been  so  since 


ASSETS  IN  ADMINISTRATION        167 

right  up  to  the  outbreak  of  war.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
British  and  the  German  way  with  natives  when  in  the 
hands  of  administrators  in  Fiji  and  Samoa.  Sir  William 
MaeGregor  as  Administrator  of  the  Government  of  Fiji  had 
to  read  the  Fijian  chiefs  a  lesson.  TJie  Fijian  people  were 
evidently  dying  out  and  everybody  seemed  to  be  helpless 
to  check  it.  Sir  William  des  Voeux  had  not  been  able  to 
impress  the  chiefs  with  their  responsibility  in  the  matter, 
and  it  needed  a  MaeGregor  with  his  medical  knowledge, 
his  skill  in  Fijian,  so  that  he  could  speak  with  the  Fijians 
face  to  face,  and  his  direct  and  impressive  words,  when 
speaking,  to  deal  adequately  with  the  situation.  Here  it 
is  that  one  begins  to  imagine  what  would  have  happened 
in  Fiji  and  the  Pacific  had  the  British  Colonial  Office  woke 
up  in  1885,  instead  of  two  decades  later,  to  realise  the 
manner  of  man  that  lay  to  its  hand  for  great  work.  The 
speech  that  Sir  William  MaeGregor  made  to  the  Fijian 
chiefs  in  the  year  mentioned  is  on  record*  and  can  be 
appreciated  at  its  full  value  since  The  Australasian 
Medical  Gazette  saw  fit  in  1885  to  republish  it  for  the 
benefit  of  its  readers.  But  the  maker  of  the  speech  was 
profoundly  concerned  about  the  shrinking  Fijian  popula- 
tion, and  he  was  occupying  a  position  of  the  highest  autho- 
rity. He  was  the  British  Governor  for  the  time  being. 
And  could  he  have  followed  up  his  advice  with  continued 
attention  to  the  details  of  life-saving  and  life-extension 
the  Fijian  group  would  be  in  a  vastly  different  condition 
to-day.  Had  he  been  appointed  High  Commissioner  for 
the  Western  Pacific,  in  those  difficult  days  leading  up  to 
1889,  no  doubt  the  British  Government  would  have  been 
told  some  home  truths,  and  things  would  have  been  done 

*  Appendix  C. 


168  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

in  spite  of  probable  dislike  or  indifference  on  the  part  of  the 
Colonial  Office  in  London.  That,  however,  may  be  left, 
for  Sir  William  (then  Dr.)  MacGregor  went  to  British  New 
Guinea  in  1888  and  set  a  fine  example  there  and  achieved 
great  things  for  the  Empire.  When  he  made  his  speech  to 
the  Fijian  chiefs  in  1885  the  native  population  was  about 
110,000.  To-day  it  is  less  than  90,000,  though  apparently 
just  in  the  balance  for  an  increase.  So  concerned  had  the 
British  authorities  become  over  the  matter,  after  Dr. 
MacGregor  left,  that  a  commission  was  appointed  to  deal 
with  the  whole  question,  and  it  presented  its  report  in  1896. 
But  not  commissions  of  inquiry  were  wanted  so  much  as  a 
dominating  personality  in  the  Governor  of  Fiji — a  chief 
who  could  impress  the  chiefs  beneath  him  with  the  impera- 
tive need  of  doing  things  and  with  a  proper  sense  of  their 
own  responsibility. 

In  the  speech  just  noted  Dr.  MacGregor  made  his  points 
one  after  another  with  satisfying  clearness,  and  a  close 
personal  appeal  was  directed  to  this  chief  and  that.  Much 
of  the  mortality  among  the  Fijians  was  the  result  of  un- 
cleanliness  and  bad  sanitation.  The  remedy  lay  in  making 
the  houses  waterproof  and  in  gathering  up  all  rubbish  and 
garbage.  This  was  so  much  common-place.  But  the 
acting  Governor  had  been  round  the  towns  and  villages 
himself,  and  he  gave  instances  where  the  local  chief  had 
failed,  emphasising  his  contention  by  showing  how  other 
chiefs  had  greatly  succeeded  by  attention  to  duty.  Par- 
ticularly did  he  urge  the  need  for  watchfulness  when 
women  were  child-bearing,  and  after  the  children  were 
born.  Here,  for  instance,  was  a  native  centre  where  many 
healthy  children  could  be  found  and  where  the  various 
excuses  and  untruths  of  lazy  chiefs  were  exploded  by  a 


ASSETS  IN  ADMINISTRATION        169 

glance  at  the  facts.  No  woman  was  allowed  to  work  until 
she  was  in  a  fit  condition  to  do  so.  Mothers  were  com- 
fortably housed.  They  were  kept  dry  and  were  well  fed. 
The  chief  responsible  made  it  his  business  to  see  to  these 
things  and  to  exert  his  authority  by  direct  inspections. 
And  so  the  lesson  was  given  to  a  host  of  listening  Fijians 
who  felt  that  every  word  was  with  power,  because  the 
great  man  speaking  had  not  only  the  chief's  way  with  him, 
but  the  mighty  chiefs  eye  and  voice.  He  was  there  to  be 
obeyed  ;  and  yet  his  first  appeal  was  to  their  common 
sense  and  natural  instincts.  Perhaps  the  last  words  were 
the  most  impressive.  They  touched  the  note  of  self-help 
for  the  Fijian  even  in  medical  skill  and  equipment.  Why 
should  not  native  youths  learn  something  of  medicine  and 
surgery  ?  Indeed,  the  way  had  been  opened  and  instruc- 
tion was  being  given.  The  good  doctor,  now  speaking  in 
the  Governor's  place,  expressed  regret  that  he  could  not 
himself  be  the  teacher  devoting  much  time  to  a  loved  task, 
and  pointing  out  that  he  had  been  called  to  other  duties. 

The  best  commentary  upon  it  all  is  to  be  found  in  an 
interview  given  by  a  missionary,  just  returned  from  the 
Gilbert  and  Ellice  Islands  in  1918,  to  a  representative  of 
the  Sydney  Morning  Herald.  These  islands  are  under 
British  control,  and  the  hospital  system  installed  by  the 
medical  branch  of  the  administration  was  declared  to  be 
the  most  remarkable  thing  the  traveller  had  seen  in  the 
direction  of  educating  the  natives.  The  Rev.  W.  C. 
Willoughby,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  may  speak 
for  himself.  He  said  at  the  outset  that  under  war  con- 
ditions it  was  very  difficult  to  deal  with  the  scattered 
islands  of  the  group  when  medical  help  was  required,  and 
that  communication  is  so  much  hampered  that  patients 


170  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

cannot  be  brought  to  central  hospitals.  So  "  native 
dressers "  were  stationed  at  a  small  hospital  on  each 
island,  and  "  native  surgeons  "  at  the  more  important 
islands  ;  the  natives  so  employed  as  dressers  are  pure  Gil- 
bertese  ;  but  it  was  the  island  "  surgeons  "  who  made  Mr. 
Willoughby  exclaim  :  "  One  is  a  Fijian  and  two  are  Ton- 
gans.  They  are  products  of  the  excellent  school  systems 
in  vogue  in  their  respective  island  groups,  where  many 
natives,  passing  through  their  high  schools,  assimilate  a 
standard  of  education  that  often  amazes  the  casual  visitor. 
The  three  young  men  under  notice  did  not  go  through  a 
regular  medical  course,  or  graduate  in  surgery,  or  anything 
of  that  sort.  The  medical  officers  have  simply  given  them 
a  rough  idea  of  surgery  and  the  treatment  of  the  more 
simple  ailments.  They  can  give  chloroform,  set  a  broken 
bone,  amputate  a  limb,  prescribe  treatment  for  the  com- 
moner forms  of  sickness.  They  cannot,  however,  make  a 
difficult  diagnosis,  nor  conduct,  for  instance,  an  abdominal 
operation.  Difficult  cases,  wherever  possible,  are  left  for 
attention  by  the  regular  doctor."  The  Fijian  surgeon, 
however,  had  just  successfully  performed  an  operation  for 
the  removal  of  tubercular  glands.*  Mr.  Willoughby  said 
it  was  an  experiment  which  had  proved  very  successful. 
He  declared  that  "  it  promises  to  solve  one  of  the  most 
difficult  problems  of  the  Pacific — namely,  the  provision  of 
medical  assistance  among  hundreds  of  isolated  island  com- 
munities, where  there  is  a  good  deal  of  minor  sickness,  and 
where  a  white  doctor  cannot  be  permanently  stationed." 

Sir  William  MacGregor  saw  it  all  in  those  far-off  days 
when  he  was  preoccupied  with  the  Fijian  birth  and  death 
rates,   and  when  he  urged  that  salvation  lay  with  the 
*  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  July  13th,  1918. 


ASSETS  IN  ADMINISTRATION 

natives  themselves.  But  this  has  really  been  the  spirit 
behind  British  administration  everywhere  in  the  Pacific. 
Mistakes  have  been  made,  no  doubt,  and  the  official  mind 
has  tended  everywhere  to  paralyse  enterprise  and  to  stop 
progress  ;  but  where  the  officials  have  dared  to  think  and 
act  for  themselves,  and  have  not  been  afraid  to  cut  red 
tape  and  abolish  sealing  wax,  there  have  been  some  wonder- 
ful results.  Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  has  essayed  to 
extend  her  possessions  and  strengthen  her  hold  upon  the 
natives  by  keeping  them  in  fetters.  She  has  attempted  in 
the  Pacific  what  she  has  done  in  the  Cameroons,  where 
science  and  organisation  have  been  made  the  handmaids 
of  an  iron  discipline  and  where  the  natives  have  revolted 
at  the  first  opportunity.  Sir  William  MacGregor  cannot 
be  made  an  offset  to  Dr.  Solf,  in  Samoa,  and  to  Dr.  Hahl 
in  the  Carolines  and  New  Guinea,  because  the  Governments 
behind  them  have  been  as  wide  as  the  poles  apart.  This, 
therefore,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  argument  on  one  side, 
and  it  only  needs  a  reference  to  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 
again  to  clinch  it  on  the  other. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


Tusitala,  the  writer  of  stories.  Why  give  him  the  lime- 
light f  Germany  roused  the  man  in  him.  His  love  for  and 
understanding  of  the  Samoans.  A  missionary  after  all.  He 
stood  for  the  natives  against  the  aggressive  white  man. 
The  two  spirits  in  conflict.  Mataafa's  scorn.  The  German 
proclamation.  Germany's  bludgeon  in  play.  The  Road  of 
the  Loving  Heart.  Stevenson's  speech  to  the  Samoan  chiefs. 
A  lesson  for  the  Germans. 

MANY  a  worthy  man  has  worked  harder  and  much  longer 
for  the  natives  in  the  islands  and  island  groups  of  the 
Pacific  than  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  did,  and  without 
getting  into  the  limelight.  Why,  then,  should  the  latter 
be  brought  forward  on  the  stage  at  this  juncture  ?  He 
was,  after  all,  Tusitala,  the  writer  of  stories.  He  achieved 
practically  nothing  for  the  Samoans  against  Germany  in 
his  lifetime  ;  and  if  it  be  true  that  Germany  at  last  did 
accept  his  proposals  for  an  amicable  understanding  with 
the  Samoans,  surely  the  credit  must  be  distributed  ? 
These  questions  or  objections  may  be  met  with  the  reminder 
that  Stevenson  loved  the  Samoans,  understood  them,  and 
would  have  died  for  them,  had  it  been  a  question  of  saving 
his  life  by  denying  their  claims  or  betraying  them.  He  did 
not  go  to  Samoa  as  a  missionary,  with  his  life  dedicated  to 
the  work  of  saving  their  souls,  but  as  a  wanderer  in  search 
of  health  with  no  wish  whatever  to  take  part  in  the  devil's 
dance  which  at  that  time  centred  upon  Apia.  He  was  a 
writer  whose  name  was  already  inscribed  among  the 


STEVENSON'S  PLACE  AND  POWER     173 

immortals  of  English  literature  but  who  was  destined  to 
engrave  it  still  deeper  during  his  short  residence  in  the 
group  from  1889  to  1894.  That  he  should  have  been 
moved  to  vehement  protest  against  Germany  in  far-off 
Samoa,  where  no  European  Power  could  claim  supremacy, 
and  where  the  natives  were  nominally  in  possession  and 
control,  was  in  itself  a  remarkable  thing,  and  it  undoubtedly 
attracted  attention  at  a  time  when  Germany  badly  wanted 
to  be  left  alone.  But  the  iniquity  of  the  German  claim 
that  might  was  right,  and  that  nothing  mattered  when 
dealing  with  natives  in  the  Pacific  or  anywhere  else  except 
to  be  strong  enough,  roused  his  fiercest  resentment.  He 
discerned  then  quite  clearly  the  Germany  which  has  since 
been  revealed  to  us ;  and  he  wrote  "  A  Footnote  to  History," 
not  because  he  liked  the  job,  but  because  he  could  not  help 
himself.  He  had  to  deliver  his  soul.  He  was  in  Samoa, 
the  land  of  a  people  so  far  civilised  that  he  not  only  felt  at 
home  in  their  midst,  but  actually  became  one  of  them, 
almost  as  a  chief  founding  another  clan  ;  and  for  the 
Samoans,  threatened  with  German  domination,  he  strug- 
gled as  bravely  as  any  Highland  chieftain  in  days  when  the 
southern  invader  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  glen.  But 
Stevenson  was  more  than  a  fiery  Scot  defending  a  brave 
people  against  a  foe  who  was  without  ruth  or  chivalry. 
He  scorned  Sir  John  Thurston's  threats,  implied  or  direct, 
because  he  was  assured  that  a  great  injustice  was  being 
perpetrated,  if  not  by  his  connivance  then  through  his  lack 
of  knowledge  and  want  of  sympathy  with  the  Samoans. 
No  missionary  as  such  could  stand  up  as  he  did  against 
both  Germany  and  Great  Britain  with  the  slightest  hope 
of  success.  Even  George  Brown,  later  on,  notwithstanding 
his  influence  with  German  administrators,  had  to  seek 


174  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

cover  before  turning  his  guns  upon  them.  Stevenson 
stayed  in  the  open,  and  actually  aroused  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  so  far  that  at  last  the  promise  was  given  in 
the  House  of  Commons  that  Sir  John  Thurston's  hand 
should  be  stayed  if  he  contemplated  deportation  or  further 
hostile  action. 

But  Stevenson  was  a  missionary,  after  all,  with  the  same 
flame  in  his  soul  as  that  shown  by  James  Chalmers,  George 
Brown,  and  Sir  William  MacGregor,  when  the  call  came  for 
action.  He  stood  for  the  Samoans — for  the  natives  as 
against  the  aggressive  white  man — and  this  in  a  sentence 
sums  up  the  history  of  the  Pacific  up  to  1914.  The  con- 
flict has  always  been  between  the  spirit  of  oppression  and 
illicit  conquest,  which  Germany  represented,  and  the 
spirit  of  justice  and  fair  play,  perhaps  carried  to  extremes 
by  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  but  always  finding 
expression  in  deeds  of  unselfish  regard  for  the  natives, 
whether  in  Fiji  and  New  Guinea  or  in  the  further  Philip- 
pines. Again  the  admission  must  be  made  that  British 
Governments  failed,  that  Crown  Colony  administrators 
committed  blunders  and  did  injury  to  the  natives,  by 
indifference  or  worse,  and  that  in  island  protectorates 
German  arrogance  could  be  matched  by  British  folly. 
But  Stevenson  represented  the  clear,  earnest,  British  spirit 
of  fair  play.  He  is  a  reminder  to-day  that  in  spite  of 
failure  and  foolishness  on  the  part  of  British  Governments, 
of  narrowness  and  stupidity  on  the  part  of  British  mission- 
aries, of  the  callousness  of  British  traders  and  the  cynicism 
of  British  critics,  there  has  been  in  the  past  an  earnest 
desire  to  do  justice  to  the  native  races,  and  that  at  the 
present  moment  there  exists  a  sympathy  for  them  which 
may  be  turned  into  fruitful  deeds  almost  by  a  word. 


STEVENSON'S  PLACE  AND  POWER     175 

Stevenson,  it  must  be  confessed,  did  not  make  his  appeal 
in  these  terms,  because  he  was  only  anxious  to  express 
himself  as  an  individual  and  not  as  a  national  force.  His 
literary  gifts  became  secondary  to  the  manhood  behind 
them ;  and  though  his  actual  influence  upon  British 
opinion  was  the  result  of  burning  words  flung  from  afar 
by  a  man  known  as  an  artist  rather  than  as  a  fighter  for 
the  right  and  the  true,  the  revelation  of  the  crusader  and 
missionary  in  him  was  like  fire  from  heaven.  At  the  time 
the  immediate  circle  of  warm-hearted  men  and  women 
impressed  was  small  in  comparison  with  the  world  issues 
involved,  but  it  has  been  widening  fast  since  he  died — 
twenty  years  before  the  war  broke  upon  us.  For  two 
decades  we  had  been  learning  to  know  Germany  through 
him,  and  not  a  few  journalists  made  their  protests  against 
German  guile  and  mischief  long  before  1914,  because  he 
had  led  the  way. 

Thus  one  turns  again  to  "  A  Footnote  to  History  "  and 
scans  its  pages  with  renewed  interest.  The  difference 
between  the  German  spirit  and  the  British  spirit  leaps  out 
again  in  stronger  relief ;  and,  where  actual  addresses  or 
appeals  to  the  Samoans  can  be  recorded,  the  words  of  power, 
or  the  lack  of  it,  become  like  a  blow  for  right  or  wrong. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  German  way  of  making  a  king, 
against  the  protests  of  the  people  most  concerned,  with  the 
proclamations  which  governed  the  situation.  The  events 
are  recorded  by  Stevenson  early  in  the  book,  in  the  chapter 
covering  the  history  of  Samoa  from  1883  to  1887,  when  Sir 
John  Thurston  was  inquiring  and  reporting,  and  when  Dr. 
MacGregor  for  a  short  time  was  so  far  Governor  of  Fiji  that 
his  medical  brethren  in  Australia  hailed  his  advent  to  power 
with  words  of  warm  commendation.  Germany,  it  must  be 


176  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

remembered,  was  not  in  possession  and  had  no  more  right 
to  control  the  Samoans  than  Great  Britain  or  the  United 
States.  She  made  certain  claims,  and  was  insistent  that 
she  was  suffering  under  definite  wrongs.  Her  Consul  took 
large  leave  upon  these  points,  and  the  British  and  American 
Consuls  had  to  follow  hard  after  or  agree,  with  an  ill  or  a 
ready  grace,  when  called  upon.  Germany  had  declared  that 
Malietoa  Laupepa  was  to  be  deposed  and  that  Tamasese 
was  to  be  king.  Mataafa,  who  had  the  real  influence  with 
Samoans,  was  willing  to  effect  a  compromise  and  told  the 
German  authorities  so.  He  went  on  board  the  German  man- 
of-war  Bismarck,  declares  Stevenson,  and  was  well  received. 

"  Probably,"  said  the  commodore,  "  we  shall  bring  about 
a  reconciliation  of  all  Samoa  through  you  ;  "  and  then 
asked  his  visitor  if  he  bore  any  affection  to  Malietoa. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mataafa. 

"  And  to  Tamasese  ?  " 

"  To  him  also  ;  and  if  you  desire  the  weal  of  Samoa,  you 
will  allow  either  him  or  me  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation." 

41  If  it  were  my  will,"  said  the  commodore,  "  I  would  do 
as  you  say.  But  I  have  no  will  in  the  matter.  I  have 
instructions  from  the  Kaiser,  and  I  cannot  go  back  again 
from  what  I  have  been  sent  to  do." 

"  I  thought  you  would  be  commended,"  said  Mataafa, 
"  if  I  brought  about  the  weal  of  Samoa." 

"  And  I  will  tell  you  this,"  said  the  commodore.  "  All 
shall  go  quietly.  But  there  is  one  thing  that  must  be  done  : 
Malietoa  must  be  deposed.  I  will  do  nothing  to  him  beyond ; 
he  will  only  be  kept  on  board  for  a  couple  of  months  and  be 
well  treated,  just  as  we  Germans  did  to  the  French  chief 
(Napoleon  III.)  some  time  ago,  whom  we  kept  awhile  and 
cared  for  well." 


STEVENSON'S  PLACE  AND  POWER     m 

This  conversation  is  taken  bodily  from  "  A  Footnote 
to  History,"  and  those  who  are  interested  may  read 
therein  the  story  of  Malietoa's  exile.  Germany  deported 
one  chief  after  another,  sending  them  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  or  afar  in  the  Pacific,  and  generally  playing  the 
cold  autocrat  as  she  pleased.  To  develop  the  general 
argument,  the  end  of  the  controversy  may  be  given  in 
Stevenson's  own  words. 

When  Mataafa  realised  that  he  had  failed  to  make  any 
impression  he  returned  to  his  own  people.  "  Meanwhile, 
in  the  Malietoa  provinces,  a  profound  impression  was 
received.  People  trooped  to  their  fugitive  sovereign  in  the 
bush.  Many  natives  in  Apia  brought  their  treasures,  and 
stored  them  in  the  houses  of  white  friends.  The  Tamasese 
orators  were  sometimes  ill  received.  Over  in  Savaii,  they 
found  the  village  of  Satupaitea  deserted,  save  for  a  few 
lads  at  cricket.  These  they  harangued,  and  were  rewarded 
with  ironical  applause  ;  and  the  proclamation,  as  soon  as 
they  had  departed,  was  torn  down.  For  this  offence  the 
village  was  ultimately  burned  by  German  sailors,  in  a  very 
decent  and  orderly  style,  on  the  3rd  September  (1887). 
This  was  the  dinner  bell  of  the  fono  on  the  15th.  The 
threat  conveyed  in  the  terms  of  the  summons — '  If  any 
government  district  does  not  quickly  obey  this  direction,  I 
will  make  war  on  that  government  district ' — was  thus 
commented  on  and  reinforced.  And  the  meeting  was  in 
consequence  well  attended  by  chiefs  of  all  parties.  They 
found  themselves  unarmed  among  the  armed  warriors  of 
Tamasese  and  the  marines  of  the  German  squadron,  and 
under  the  guns  of  five  strong  ships.  Brandeis  rose  ;  it  was 
his  first  open  appearance,  the  German  firm  signing  its 
revolutionary  work.  His  words  were  few  and  uncom- 


s.or 


178  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

promising  :  '  Great  are  my  thanks  that  the  chiefs  and  heads 
of  families  of  the  whole  of  Samoa  are  assembled  here  this 
day.  It  is  strictly  forbidden  that  any  discussion  should 
take  place  as  to  whether  it  is  good  or  not  that  Tamasese  is 
King  of  Samoa,  whether  at  this  fono  or  at  any  other  fono. 
I  place  for  your  signature  the  following  :  "  We  inform  all 
the  people  of  Samoa  of  what  follows  :  (1)  The  government  of 
Samoa  has  been  assumed  by  King  Tuiaana  Tamasese. 
(2)  By  order  of  the  King,  it  was  directed  that  a  fono  should 
take  place  to-day,  composed  of  the  chiefs  and  heads  of  families, 
and  we  have  obeyed  the  summons.  We  have  signed  our  names 
under  this,  I5th  September,  1887."  '  Needs  must  under  all 
these  guns  ;  and  the  paper  was  signed,  but  not  without 
open  sullenness.  The  bearing  of  Mataafa  in  particular  was 
long  remembered  against  him  by  the  Germans.  '  Do  you 
not  see  the  King  ?  '  said  the  commodore  reprovingly. 
4  His  father  was  no  king,'  was  the  bold  answer.  A  bolder 
still  has  been  printed,  but  this  is  Mataafa's  own  recollection 
of  the  passage.  On  the  next  day,  the  chiefs  were  all 
ordered  back  to  shake  hands  with  Tamasese.  Again  they 
obeyed  ;  but  again  their  attitude  was  menacing,  and  some, 
it  is  said,  audibly  murmured  as  they  gave  their  hands."* 

The  above  quotation  has  been  worth  giving,  if  only  to 
show  Germany's  bludgeon  at  work.  But  it  may  be  con- 
ceived how  the  subsequent  telling  of  the  story  would  arouse 
attention  wherever  his  countrymen  foregathered,  at  a  time 
when  Stevenson  was  more  surely  taking  his  place  among  the 
princes  and  potentates  of  English  literature.  Germany 
would  be  more  impressed  than  ever  after  Stevenson  died. 
His  tomb  above  Vailima  was  becoming  a  place  of  pilgrim- 
age ;  and  Samoa  in  the  years  following  1894  was  known, 
*  "  A  Footnote  to  History,'*  pp.  73—76. 


STEVENSON'S  PLACE  AND  POWER     179 

not  only  as  Stevenson's  resting  place,  but  as  the  scene  of 
his  dispute  with  Germany.  In  passing,  it  should  be  re- 
marked that  the  events  recorded  in  this  quotation  took 
place  some  time  before  Bismarck's  surrender,  consequent 
upon  the  hurricane  at  Apia.  Stevenson  and  the  hurricane 
arrived  in  the  same  year,  and  the  agreement  reached  by 
the  three  Powers  interested  was  supposed  to  be  a  strong 
warrant  for  peace.  But  Stevenson's  discovery  of  the  true 
Germany  was  not  delayed  by  this  appearance  of  co-opera- 
tion and  a  friendly  understanding.  Tri-partite  control 
was  seen  to  be  only  another  cloak  for  German  intrigue, 
and  "  A  Footnote  to  History  "  was  written  because  war 
upon  the  Samoans,  and  not  peace  with  them,  was  the 
German  policy. 

Still,  Stevenson  had  made  his  mark  before  he  died  ;  and 
the  manner  of  his  death  and  the  nature  of  the  funeral 
obsequies  aroused  more  interest  abroad  than  his  life  as  a 
British  citizen,  breaking  a  lance  with  Germany,  had  done. 
Hence  it  may  quite  fairly  be  urged  that  when  Samoa  was 
divided  by  the  Treaty  of  1900  and  Dr.  Solf  became  first 
German  Governor,  the  shade  of  Stevenson  was  still  moving 
about  the  group.  Vailima  became  a  German  Government 
House,  and  the  tomb  on  the  mountain  top  was  ultimately 
kept  in  order  by  the  expenditure  of  German  money.  The 
British  spirit  had  triumphed,  and,  with  the  world  looking 
on,  Germany  felt  that  she  dared  not  defy  opinion  by 
attempting  to  crush  the  Samoans.  So  she  governed  them 
in  the  British  way  until  "  the  day  "  drew  nearer,  and  then 
she  cared  less.  Prussian  officials  stalked  about  Apia  and 
frowned  down  both  natives  and  alien  white  folk — until  at 
last  war  came  and  settled  everything.  ]But  it  is  still 
interesting  to  recall  the  Prussian  spirit  shown  when  poor 

vi 


180  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

Malietoa  Laupepa  was  deposed  and  Tamasese  was  made 
King  in  the  teeth  of  Samoan  opposition.  Nearly  seven 
years  afterwards  Stevenson  received  such  a  wonderful 
token  of  Samoan  love  and  appreciation,  and  made  such  a 
ringing  speech  after  the  Road  of  the  Loving  Heart  had  been 
constructed  for  him,  that  the  Brandeis  episode  becomes 
the  more  remarkable  in  the  continuation  it  offers  to  the 
chapter  about  the  whole  business.  To  read  Stevenson's 
speech  through*  is  to  understand  at  once  the  charm  of  the 
man,  but  especially  the  power  he  exercised  upon  the 
Samoan  mind  and  imagination.  And  yet  it  was  not 
personal  altogether.  Stevenson  had  been  the  good  Sama- 
ritan, and  at  other  times  the  great  chief,  when  not  ranging 
himself  alongside  Samoans  in  distress.  He  was  to  them 
the  embodiment  of  their  own  chivalry,  but  he  was  also  the 
representative  of  a  nation  already  noted  for  wonderful 
works  in  New  Zealand  and  Fiji. 

After  the  road  to  Vailima  had  been  made,  Stevenson 
invited  the  workers  who  wrought  for  love  of  him  to  a  great 
feast.  A  notice  board  had  been  prepared  on  which  he 
proposed  to  set  an  inscription,  but  when  the  chiefs  came 
they  had  written  something  of  their  own  that  was  carefully 
printed  and  put  in  place.  Its  translation  runs  : 

"  THE  ROAD  OF  THE  LOVING  HEART. 

"  Remembering  the  great  love  of  his  highness, 
Tusitala,  and  his  loving  care  when  we  were  in  prison 
and  sore  distressed,  we  have  prepared  him  an  enduring 
present,  this  road  which  we  have  dug  to  last  for  ever. 

"  We  are,  etc." 

Some  of  the  Europeans  at  Apia  had  been  invited  to  the 

*  Appendix  D. 


STEVENSON'S  PLACE  AND   POWER     181 

feast  and  Stevenson  turned  to  them  first.  They  did  not 
know  all  the  particulars.  The  chiefs  responsible  for  the 
new  road  had  been  recently  liberated  by  the  new  adminis- 
tration. "  As  soon  as  they  were  free  men,"  said  Stevenson, 
"  owing  no  man  anything — instead  of  going  home  to  their 
own  places  and  families,  they  came  to  me  ;  they  offered  to 
do  this  work  for  me  as  a  free  gift,  without  hire,  without 
supplies,  and  I  was  tempted  at  first  to  refuse  their  offer.  I 
knew  the  country  to  be  poor,  I  knew  famine  threatening  ; 
I  knew  their  families  long  disorganised  for  want  of  super- 
vision. Yet  I  accepted,  because  I  thought  the  lesson  of 
that  road  might  be  more  useful  to  Samoa  than  a  thousand 
breadfruit  trees,  and  because  to  myself  it  was  an  exquisite 
pleasure  to  receive  that  which  was  so  handsomely  offered. 
It  is  now  done  ;  you  have  trod  it  to-day  in  coming  hither. 
It  has  been  made  for  me  by  chiefs ;  some  of  them  old, 
some  sick,  all  newly  delivered  from  a  harassing  confinement, 
and,  in  spite  of  weather  unusually  hot  and  insalubrious,  I 
have  seen  these  chiefs  labour  valiantly  with  their  own  hands 
upon  the  work,  and  I  have  set  up  over  it,  now  that  it  is 
finished,  the  name  of  '  The  Road  of  Gratitude '  (the  road 
of  loving  hearts),  and  the  name  of  those  who  built  it." 
Then  Stevenson  addressed  himself  to  the  chiefs,  and  his 
speech  covers  nearly  all  the  ground  for  the  saving  of  the 
native  races  in  the  new  order.  He  did  not,  it  is  true,  deal 
with  a  decreasing  population  or  the  needs  for  better  sani- 
tation, as  Dr.  MacGregor  had  done  not  very  long  before 
when  speaking  to  a  council  of  Fijian  chiefs.  But  he  did 
appeal  to  the  Samoan  chiefs  to  take  the  large  view  of  their 
responsibilities.  Not  war,  but  peace,  and  the  making  of 
roads  and  gardens  was  the  path  for  them.  The  only  way 
to  defend  Samoa  was  to  occupy  and  use  it.  A  rich  soil,  a 


182  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

splendid  sun,  and  copious  rain  represented  work  already 
half  done  to  their  hand,  but  the  rest  remained  with  them. 
Then  he  told  them  the  story  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  and 
much  beside.  The  deliverance  is  worth  reading  as  a 
characteristic  piece  of  Stevenson's  thinking  and  speaking  ; 
but  its  essential  value  lies  in  the  wisdom  of  its  words  for 
Samoan  ears,  as  uttered  by  one  who  to  his  hearers  was  a 
great  chief.  Stevenson  spoke  with  as  much  authority  on 
that  occasion  as  if  he  had  been  Governor  of  a  British  Crown 
Colony,  and  with  the  added  power  of  a  man  who  loved  and 
who  knew  that  he  was  loved  in  return.  Germany,  too, 
was  undoubtedly  listening  and  watching.  It  was  as  truly 
a  lesson  for  the  Germans  as  for  the  Samoans,  and  later 
events  showed  that  it  had  been  learnt  for  a  season.  At 
any  rate,  Germany  decided  that  the  Samoans  should  be 
treated  as  reasonable  human  beings,  and  not  as  natives  to 
be  flogged  or  put  in  irons  for  doing  things  forbidden.  But 
it  was  only  for  a  period  in  the  preparation  for  war.  Had 
Germany  been  victorious  in  the  struggle  she  precipitated 
in  1914,  the  Samoans  would  have  been  as  surely  trodden 
under  foot  as  the  rest  of  the  non-German  world,  and  they 
have  only  been  saved  to-day,  with  the  rest  of  us,  by  the 
might  of  the  Allied  nations. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

CONCLUSIONS 

German  efficiency  and  British  mismanagement.  Sir 
William  MacGregor's  lecture.  The  argument  in  a  nutshell. 
The  same  Germany  in  Africa  and  the  Pacific.  Problems  for 
Australasia.  Native  populations  not  increasing.  American 
criticism.  Indian  labour  in  Fiji.  A  rejoinder  to  attacks 
upon  the  system.  Conditions  in  India.  Examples  from 
Java  and  the  Philippines.  German  trade  and  strategy. 
German  possessions  must  not  be  returned.  Mr.  Watt's 
speech  on  the  German  menace. 

ONE  form  of  argument  in  favour  of  the  return  of  German 
possessions  in  the  Pacific  may  be  summarised  in  the  word 
"  efficiency."  The  present  writer  has  heard  it  noted,  even 
by  those  whose  authority  and  loyalty  could  not  be  chal- 
lenged, that  there  was  much  to  be  said  on  both  sides. 
German  colonies  were  so  well  managed,  German  adminis- 
tration was  so  good,  and  in  fact  Germany  was  "  so  efficient," 
that  she  should  be  given  another  chance.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  claimed  that  Britain's  possessions  showed  so 
many  signs  of  mismanagement,  or  at  any  rate  of  indifference 
on  the  part  of  officials — the  official  mind  was  such  a  barrier 
to  progress — that  we  could  not  afford  to  throw  stones. 
The  truth  about  the  war,  the  cold  facts  of  German  brutality 
in  Africa  and  in  various  parts  of  the  Pacific,  and  the 
certainty  that  Germany  had  been  using  her  possessions 
everywhere  as  points  for  aggression  and  final  spoliation  in 
the  coming  war — these  things  were  given  no  place.  It  was 
singular,  too,  that  German  regulations  in  the  well-managed 


184  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

colonies  of  the  Pacific  were  apparently  unknown  to  the 
objectors.  In  one  instance  Sir  William  MacGregor  was 
cited  under  this  head,  and  acknowledgment  was  made  that 
the  quotation  came  as  news  to  this  semi-apologist  for 
Germany.  The  critic  knew  Polynesia,  and  had  resided  in 
Fiji  for  some  years  ;  so  that,  when  the  wonders  of  German 
rule  in  Samoa  and  the  Bismarck  Archipelago  were  indicated 
by  him,  the  lecture  given  by  Sir  William  MacGregor 
recently  before  the  Scottish  Geographical  Society  made  an 
opportune  rejoinder.  Under  the  terms  of  capitulation 
German  possessions  in  the  Pacific  have  been  administered 
by  Australia  and  New  Zealand  as  though  they  were  to  be 
returned.  German  laws  and  regulations  were  accepted,  and 
the  ownership  of  German  property  was  safeguarded.  But 
when  New  Zealand  decided  that  the  Chinese  in  Samoa 
should  be  deported  as  soon  as  possible,  protest  was  made 
that  they  had  been  introduced  with  Germany's  approval 
and  assistance,  and  that  to  interfere  in  the  work  of  the 
plantations  by  emptying  the  labour  reservoir  was  a  breach 
of  international  law.  This  point  had  not  been  settled  by 
any  definite  legal  or  diplomatic  joust,  and  New  Zealand, 
while  continuing  to  use  her  own  judgment  in  the  matter, 
held  her  hand  for  the  moment.  In  the  Bismarck 
Archipelago  German  law  was  recognised  at  first  by  allowing 
drastic  treatment  of  the  natives  working  in  plantations. 
Sir  William  MacGregor  put  the  matter  succinctly :  "  Shortly 
after  the  German  possessions  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Commonwealth  officers,  a  mistake  that  was  intrinsically 
very  regrettable  was  made.  A  regulation  dealing  with  the 
recruiting  and  working  of  native  labourers  was  issued  under 
which  the  employer  could  be  authorised  to  flog,  imprison, 
with  or  without  chains,  or  with  or  without  light,  or  fine  a 


CONCLUSIONS  185 

labourer.  After  about  a  month  this  regulation  was  with- 
drawn, and  an  amendment  was  substituted  that  puts 
flogging  practically  under  the  same  restriction  as  in  Aus- 
tralia ;  that  it  can  be  imposed  only  by  order  of  a  properly 
constituted  court,  and  a  heavy  fine  or  imprisonment  is 
imposed  on  any  employer  who  flogs  a  labourer."  *  Again 
German  law  was  reviewed. 

This  compresses  the  argument  into  the  proverbial  nut- 
shell. The  whole  spirit  of  British  administration  is  against 
what  had  become  a  matter  of  course  with  German  officials. 
Natives  are  not  chattels  or  beasts  of  burden  to  be  flogged  at 
will  and  treated  as  less  than  human.  No  wonderful 
efficiency  in  German  colonial  administration  will  compen- 
sate for  the  substitution  of  callous  indifference  to  human 
suffering  for  a  ready  sympathy  with  and  understanding  of 
the  native  mind  and  character.  The  natives  are  fellow- 
beings  living  in  a  part  of  the  world  which,  for  them,  seems 
turned  upside  down  ;  and  to  flog  them  simply  because  they 
prefer  their  own  way  of  life  to  the  German  or  the  British 
is  to  deny  the  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity.  Sir 
William  MacGregor  concluded  his  paragraph  with  the  note 
that  while  it  might  seem  paradoxical  to  call  the  mistake 
above  mentioned  a  fortunate  one,  it  was  "  one  more  proof 
that  the  Commonwealth  Government  will  insist  on  the 
natives  under  their  jurisdiction  being  fairly  and  justly 
treated."  He  declared  also  that  while  the  flogging  regu- 
lation may  have  been  in  accordance  with  the  laws  in  force 
under  German  rule,  it  was  certainly  not  in  conformity  with 
British  administration.  A  vindication  of  the  spirit  of 
British  control  in  the  Pacific  is  thus  made  possible,  when 
it  is  attacked  ;  but  the  question  of  the  return  of  German 
*  Th«  Seottiih  Geographical  Magazine,  May,  1818,  p.  167, 


186  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

possessions  must  still  be  debated  round  the  whole  circle. 
The  people  of  Australasia  contend  that  there  is  only  one 
Germany.  In  Africa  she  is  the  same  Power  as  in  the 
Pacific,  and  the  Germany  of  the  Belgian  atrocities  is 
identical  with  the  Germany  responsible  for  the  excesses  in 
the  Caroline  Islands.  To  quote  Samoa,  and  to  argue  that 
German  efficiency  elsewhere  has  made  a  model  for  Great 
Britain  to  copy,  is  to  look  at  a  lustful,  truculent,  brutal 
nation  through  the  shadows  of  a  dark  dawning  in  the 
Pacific,  where  for  too  long  Germany  worked  behind  a  cloud 
of  her  own  making.  Also  to  insist  that  as  strong  an  indict- 
ment may  be  drawn  against  British  adventurers,  adminis- 
trators, traders,  and  companies  as  against  their  German 
congeners  is  to  forget  that  Great  Britain  was  continually 
represented,  not  by  obscure  individuals,  but  by  her  navy 
and  by  the  procession  of  great  men  beginning  with  Sir 
George  Grey  and  Bishop  Selwyn  right  through  to  James 
Chalmers  and  Sir  William  MacGregor.  Her  failures  in  the 
Pacific  have  been  those  of  a  sluggish  imagination,  not  of  a 
hard  heart  or  an  anaemic  conscience.  British  pioneers  in 
the  Pacific  have  been  hampered,  broken,  and  denied  at 
every  turn  by  their  mother  country.  Great  Britain  has 
too  often  shown  herself  ignorant,  and  has  assumed  know- 
ledge only  to  justify  a  stubborn  refusal  to  advance  along 
paths  opened  for  her  by  her  enterprising  sons.  But  the 
latter  have  not  denied  her  will  and  wish  to  do  the  right  thing 
by  defenceless  natives,  or  to  punish  wrong-doers  wherever 
the  proof  against  them  has  been  complete.  Germany,  on 
the  other  hand,  has  been  a  constant  party  to  wrong-doing. 
Since  she  became  an  Empire  she  has  been  a  cynical  con- 
temner  of  the  moral  law.  She  first  broke  France  upon  the 
wheel  of  war,  and  throughout  the  Pacific,  for  the  best  part 


CONCLUSIONS  187 

of  halt'  a  century,  she  laid  her  plans  to  smash  the  British 
Empire,  to  dispossess  the  natives  and  to  enslave  them. 
She  was  preparing  for  the  great  day  when  Australia  and 
New  Zealand  should  become  part  of  the  world-conquering 
Teuton's  domain,  and  when  no  other  nation  was  to  say  her 
nay.  Germany  in  the  Pacific,  therefore,  has  been  no 
different  from  the  Germany  revealed  in  the  horrors  of  an 
African  administration  or  in  the  wreckage  of  Belgium  and 
Northern  France.  Australasia  has  demanded  in  conse- 
quence that  in  the  one  great  sphere  of  interest  she  shall  not 
be  trusted  any  further  than  in  the  other. 

Before  summing  up  the  argument  on  the  side  of  trade 
and  strategy,  it  must  be  confessed  that  a  difficulty  arises 
when  the  people  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand  are  asked 
what  they  propose  to  do  to  secure  a  better  order  in  the 
Pacific.  The  native  races  are  not  increasing  as  they  should, 
and  some  difficult  problems  have  been  set  by  the  very 
desire  of  Great  Britain  to  serve  and  save  the  people  already 
entrusted  to  her  care.  If  the  cost  of  this  war  is  to  be  met, 
the  tropics  must  be  developed  ;  yet  in  the  Pacific  nothing 
seems  to  be  settled.  Fijians  and  Samoans  will  not  work 
to  develop  their  groups  on  any  large  scale,  and  to  force 
their  labour,  or  to  tax  them  for  public  works  which  they 
cannot  at  present  appreciate,  is  repugnant  to  all  ideas  of 
British  justice.  That  the  people  of  the  United  States  are 
watching  this  with  interest  may  be  seen  in  some  of  the 
writing  on  the  subject.  In  one  of  the  American  magazines 
which  deals  with  scientific  subjects  there  has  recently 
appeared  a  series  of  articles  by  Dr.  Alfred  Goldsborough 
Mayer,  of  the  Carnegie  Institute  of  Washington,  who 
visited  the  Pacific  and  lived  there  for  a  time  making 
investigations.  Some  of  his  statements  and  conclusions 


188  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

may,  no  doubt,  be  challenged,  and  his  reference  to  the 
black  labour  traffic  shows  that  he  could  not  have  studied 
existing  conditions.  Kanakas  are  no  longer  employed  in 
Queensland,  and  for  some  years  before  they  were  re- 
patriated the  regulations  governing  their  employment  were 
stringently  applied.  The  Government  of  Queensland  took 
every  possible  precaution  to  safeguard  their  interests,  and 
abuses  were  carefully  watched  and  punished.  Dr.  Mayer 
makes  it  appear  as  if  the  shadow  were  still  heavy  over  the 
British  part  of  the  Pacific.  Then  he  regrets  that  British 
New  Guinea  was  handed  over  to  Australia,  as  though  he 
had  never  heard  of  her  bargain  with  Great  Britain  or  of 
Sir  William  MacGregor's  wonderful  administration,  prac- 
tically under  Australian  control.  But  this  is  by  the  way. 
The  conclusions  reached  in  other  directions  are  sound,  and 
one  paragraph  may  be  quoted  to  show  how  far  the  ground 
has  been  studied  on  its  ethical  and  economic  side.  He 
says  :  "  In  1874  the  British  undertook  the  task  of  civilis- 
ing, without  exploiting,  a  barbarous  and  degraded  race 
which  was  drifting  hopelessly  into  ruin.  They  began  the 
solution  of  this  complex  problem  by  arresting  the  entire 
race  and  immuring  them  within  the  protecting  walls  of  a 
system  which  recognised  as  its  cardinal  principle  that  the 
natives  were  unfit  to  think  or  act  for  themselves.  For  a 
generation  the  Fijians  have  been  in  a  prison  wherein  they 
have  become  the  happiest  and  best-behaved  captives  upon 
earth.  During  this  time  they  have  become  reconciled  to  a 
life  of  peace,  and  have  forgotten  the  taste  of  human  flesh  ; 
and  while  they  cherish  no  love  for  the  white  man,  they  feel 
the  might  of  his  law  and  know  that  his  decrees  are  as 
finalities  of  fate.  All  are  serving  life  sentences  to  the  white 
man's  will,  and  the  fire  of  their  old  ambition  has  cooled  into 


CONCLUSIONS  189 

the  dull  embers  of  resignation  and  then  died  into  the  apathy 
of  contentment  with  things  that  are.  .  .  .  No  real  progress 
has  been  made  by  the  Fijians  ;  they  have  received  much 
from  their  teachers,  but  have  given  nothing  in  return. 
They  are  in  the  position  of  a  youth  whose  schooling  has 
just  been  finished  ;  life  and  action  lie  before  him ;  will  he 
awaken  to  his  responsibility,  develop  his  latent  talent, 
character,  and  power,  and  recompense  his  teacher  by 
achievement,  or  will  he  sink  into  the  apathy  of  a  vile 
content  ?  "  * 

This  may,  no  doubt,  be  challenged  on  several  counts, 
and  especially  by  missionaries  in  Fiji  who  know  what  the 
Fijians  have  done  for  themselves  and  for  other  groups  in 
the  Pacific  by  lives  laid  down  in  heroic  self-sacrifice.     Both 
Dr.  Fison  and  Dr.  Brown,  if  alive,  could  give  Dr.  Mayer 
chapter  and  verse  to  show  that  Fijians  as  a  people  have 
neither  been  in  prison  nor  were  they  arrested  in  the  first 
instance.     They  offered  their  group  to  Britain  willingly 
and  without  constraint.     They  have  been  free  to  do  many 
things,  and  have  done  some  of  them  remarkably  well,  as 
witness  their  fighting  in  the  great  war,  their  beginnings  in 
medical  study,  and  their  success  as  "  surgeons  "  in  the 
Carolines.     But  these  great  missionaries  would  have  been 
prompt  to  recognise  the  broad  truth  behind  Dr.  Mayer's 
generalisation,  though  he  appears  to  sympathise  little  with 
mission  work  as  a  whole,  even  while  giving  due  credit  to 
the  astonishing  success  of  individual  missionaries  against 
tremendous  odds.     Throughout  the  Pacific  a  stage  has 
undoubtedly  been  reached  at  which  the  natives  may  now 
be  more  rapidly  pushed  forward  in  some  directions ;    for 
the  alternative  seems  to  be  stagnation  and  death.     Cer- 
*  The  Scientific  Monthly,  New  York,  October,  1916,  pp.  33—34. 


190  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

tainly  Great  Britain  and  Australasia  are  determined  that 
Germany's  way  with  the  natives  shall  cease.  The  latter 
must  be  educated  for  the  new  order,  and  this  is  where 
opinion  is  beginning  to  concentrate  in  hearty  agreement. 
Education  on  conventional  lines  has  been  continued  until 
in  Fiji  most  of  the  children  now  can  read  and  write.  The 
Methodist  and  Roman  Catholic  Churches,  not  the  Govern- 
ment of  Fiji,  have  been  responsible  for  this  amount  of  pro- 
gress. But  manual  training  and  training  in  agriculture 
have  been  too  long  delayed.  Something,  no  doubt,  is  being 
attempted  with  satisfactory  results,  but  there  must  be  a 
large,  comprehensive  programme  with  the  Government 
behind  it,  and  with  wise  discretion  in  extending  operations 
wherever  the  way  is  open.  Missionary  effort  is  already 
bearing  fruit  in  this  direction  in  New  Guinea  and  the 
Solomons ;  and  in  Fiji  accelerated  progress  should  be 
possible  in  the  near  future.  But  though  they  see  its 
necessity,  it  is  too  large  a  responsibility  for  the  missionaries. 
So  full  of  promise  is  the  whole  thing  that,  once  native 
ambition  and  enthusiasm  are  aroused,  it  should  be  like 
putting  a  light  to  a  bonfire.  Dr.  Mayer  deplores  Fiji's 
utter  lack  of  purpose.  He  says  that  "  a  cardinal  difficulty 
is  the  unfortunate  fact  that  the  natives  desire  no  change  "  ; 
but  he  fails  to  realise  that  they  are  being  roused  and  that 
once  fully  awake  they  will  go  far.  In  Samoa  in  the  past 
the  natives  have  been  hard  to  hold  when  started  on  new 
paths,  and  their  absorption  in  a  game  like  cricket  has  turned 
the  English  idea  of  it  into  farce.  So  earnest  and  absorbed 
did  they  get  in  some  of  their  native  games  at  one  time  that 
the  missionaries  were  afraid  of  them,  and  at  last  put  them 
under  an  interdict.  The  steam  can  be  raised  anywhere  in 
the  Pacific  if  the  right  means  are  adopted,  but  it  must  be 


CONCLUSIONS  191 

regulated  and  controlled,  and,  if  Germany  is  to  be  elimi- 
nated, Great  Britain  and  her  Dominions,  in  co-operation 
with  the  United  States,  must  prove  that  the  natives  have 
made  substantial  gain. 

There  is  a  side  to  British  control  and  initiative  in  the 
Pacific  which  must  be  faced  here,  because  Germany  herself 
and  her  apologists  of  British  blood  will  certainly  obtrude  it, 
and  indeed  magnify  its  difficulties  and  injustices.  It 
should  be  understood,  however,  that  it  is  British  freedom 
which  has  given  these  folk  such  plenty  of  missiles  from 
British  admissions,  publications,  attacks  and  counter- 
attacks as  between  Government  officials,  missionaries, 
traders,  travellers,  and  so  forth.  In  Fiji,  for  instance,  only 
in  1916  did  the  Government  see  its  way  to  embark  upon 
any  system  of  education  for  the  natives.  When  the  war 
began,  two  years  before,  less  than  four  thousand  pounds 
had  been  spent  upon  Fijian  and  Indian  children,  and  there 
were  but  two  public  schools  assisted  from  the  revenues  of 
the  colony,  with  an  average  attendance  of  both  sexes  of  365 . 
Education  left  to  the  Methodist  and  Roman  Catholic 
Missions  has  not  failed,  and  the  former  mission  has 
upwards  of  a  dozen  schools  for  Indian  children  with  some- 
thing like  600  pupils.  These  are  boys  because  their 
parents  will  not  send  the  girls.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Mission  has  one  school  for  Indian  children  in  Suva  with 
considerably  over  a  hundred  pupils.  But  now  a  beginning 
has  been  made,  and  in  1916  the  Fijian  Legislative  Council 
actually  appointed  a  Board  of  Education  to  establish 
Government  schools  and  to  grant  aid  to  denominational 
and  other  private  schools.  But  behind  all  this  has  been 
much  pressure,  resulting  in  friction  and  misunderstanding. 
As  far  as  the  Indian  population  is  concerned  there  have 


192  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

been  charges  of  indifference,  and  the  whole  system  of 
indentured  labour  has  been  attacked  both  from  within  and 
without.  The  last  attack  has  come  from  women  in  Aus- 
tralia who  have  recently  endorsed  a  report  by  Miss  Garnham, 
a  lady  with  actual  experience  of  conditions  in  India.  Her 
report  on  Fiji,  though  written  temperately  and  with  a 
dispassionate  judgment  which  is  particularly  helpful,  is 
nevertheless  full  of  condemnation.  If,  therefore,  all  that 
has  been  given  to  the  world  in  this  way  were  left  without 
counter- criticism,  there  would  be  substantial  grounds  for 
any  future  challenge  by  Germany  to  Great  Britain  when 
comparisons  were  offered  between  their  respective  methods 
of  dealing  with  the  native  races  in  the  Pacific. 

The  Indians  in  Fiji  have  been  imported,  and  they  were 
British  subjects  before  they  left  India.  Moreover,  the 
"  lines  "  or  compounds  in  which  they  have  been  living  were 
part  of  the  provision  insisted  upon  by  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment itself.  The  same  Indian  Government,  no  doubt,  has 
abolished  the  indenture  system,  throwing  the  sugar  in- 
dustry of  Fiji  into  confusion  thereby  ;  though  it  must  be 
admitted  that,  had  the  system  been  continued,  the  lack  of 
tonnage  on  account  of  Germany's  submarine  campaign 
would  have  made  the  transport  of  Indian  labour  exceed- 
ingly difficult,  if  not  altogether  impossible.  Still,  all  this 
does  not  meet  the  charges  of  immorality  among  the  Indians 
in  Fiji,  where  it  has  been  alleged  that  on  one  occasion  a 
newly  arrived  married  labourer  was  met  by  three  un- 
married Indians  who  forthwith  demanded,  and  secured,  a 
share  in  his  wife.  Now  Miss  Garnham's  report  deals  with 
an  important  question,  and  her  conclusions  cannot  very 
well  be  assailed,  upon  the  facts  as  she  presents  them.  Thus 
she  declares,  after  investigation,  that  "  a  very  high  per- 


CONCLUSIONS  193 

centage  of  men  and  women  have  left  wives  or  husbands, 
and  children,  in  India."  She  says  also  that  she  found  very 
few  women  who  had  come  out  with  their  husbands,  and 
that  a  big  tragedy  lay  behind  that  fact.  To  summarise 
the  report  under  this  general  head  is  impossible  in  the 
space  now  available,  but  it  may  suffice  to  say  that  special 
emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  peculiar  disabilities  suffered  by 
Indian  women  in  Fiji.  As  only  forty  women  have  been 
recruited  with  each  hundred  men,  it  will  be  seen  that  a 
great  deal  of  force  must  lie  behind  any  broad  indictment  of 
a  system  originally  intended  to  develop  the  sugar  plan- 
tations of  Fiji,  and  not  designed  in  any  way  to  educate  the 
children  or  develop  the  manhood  and  womanhood  of  the 
Indian  labourers  so  directly  concerned.  But  again  the 
reminder  is  due  that  the  Indian  Government  prescribed  or 
ratified  the  conditions  of  employment,  and  that  in  India 
itself  the  employment  of  labourers  has  been  constant  under 
practically  identical  conditions.  Certainly  the  "  lines " 
have  not  been  peculiar  to  Fiji.  Again,  of  course,  it  will  be 
retorted  that  two  wrongs  do  not  make  a  right,  and  if  in 
India  and  in  British  colonies  other  than  Fiji  great  evils  have 
been  allowed  the  Governments  responsible  must  be  charged 
with  indifference  or  incompetence. 

The  immediate  point  here  is  that,  not  Germans,  but  the 
British  themselves  have  been  the  sternest  critics  of  wrong 
or  injustice  to  the  native  races.  It  does  not  matter  whether 
the  challenge  has  been  hurled  at  Governments  or  companies 
by  lay  champions  of  natives  in  the  Pacific,  or  by  missionary 
advocates  defending  Indian  labourers  in  Fijian  plantations, 
the  initiative  has  been  invariably  British ;  and  Germany 
will  take  her  best  stones  to  break  enemy  windows  from  the 
hands  of  that  enemy.  Logically,  too,  she  will  insist  that 

s.o,  o 


194  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

as  British  writers,  missionary  and  other,  have  themselves 
pilloried  British  Governments  or  Government  officials, 
there  is  little  left  for  her  to  say.  Has  it  not  been  insisted 
that  Great  Britain  has  always  stood  for  liberty  and  fair 
play  ?  What,  then,  has  she  to  reply  to  the  charges  made 
against  the  employment  of  Indians  in  Fiji  ?  If  it  were 
necessary  for  Downing  Street  to  quote  unofficial  documents 
in  this  connection,  one  of  the  best  series  of  rejoinders  could 
be  found  in  the  Fiji  Times  for  August  and  September,  191 8. 
The  writer  can  hardly  have  been  retained  by  the  employers 
of  Indian  labour  in  Fiji,  for  he  does  not  write  as  an  advo- 
cate. He  deals  broadly  and  fairly  with  the  whole  question  ; 
and  the  personality  of  the  writer  is  forgotten  in  his  presen- 
tation of  the  salient  facts  of  Indian  life  at  home  and  in  Fiji. 
The  problems  of  India,  and  of  Asiatic  labour  in  the  Pacific, 
are  presented  forcibly  in  reply  to  those  who  would  urge  the 
evils  of  a  system  from  one  side  only.  The  writer,  it  should 
be  premised,  does  not  meet  the  challenge  that  Indians  have 
left  their  homes  under  unfair  representations,  that  they 
have  found  Fiji  vastly  different  from  their  fair  imaginings 
of  the  group,  and  that  they  have  lost  hope  in  many  cases 
because  the  old  home  life  with  its  communal  safeguards  has 
become  for  ever  a  thing  of  the  past ;  but  the  charges  of 
practical  slavery,  of  abominable  immorality,  and  of  a 
people  broken  and  in  despair  are  fairly  met  with  certain 
established  facts.  The  shortage  of  women  in  proportion 
to  men  is  discussed  in  comparison  with  the  same  shortage 
elsewhere.  "  We  are  denounced,"  says  the  writer  in  the 

Fiji  Times,   "  because  there  is  a  4  shortage  of  women.' 

\ 

Well,  this  is  a  state  of  things  to  be  regretted,  and  remedied 
if  possible.  And  it  is  righting  itself  among  the  Indians 
more  quickly  than  one  thinks.  But  what  are  the  facts 


CONCLUSIONS  195 

about  the  matter  ?  The  facts  are  that  the  proportion  of 
women  to  men  in  Fiji  is  higher  than  amongst  any  other 
people  who  have  immigrated  to  this  colony.  The  only 
really  reliable  figures  are  those  of  the  official  census.  Look 
up  the  last  census  report  and  you  will  find  that  the  Indians 
have  54*55  females  to  every  100  males  ;  Europeans  have 
54-37  females  to  every  100  males ;  Chinese  have  20-05 
females  to  every  100  males ;  Melanesians  have  13*54 
females  to  every  100  males.  Other  races  have  a  greater 
grievance  than  the  Indians  in  the  shortage  of  women,  and 
that  shortage,  though  it  may  be  a  contributing  cause, 
cannot  be  the  only  cause  of  the  undoubtedly  prevalent 
sexual  evil  among  the  Indian  population."  *  It  must  be 
remembered  that  not  more  than  one-thirteenth  of  the 
Indians  in  Fiji  are  living  in  "  lines  "  at  the  present  moment. 
When  their  indentures  are  completed  they  have  the  option 
of  staying  in  the  group  or  of  returning  to  India,  and  the 
greater  number  elect  to  stay.  Hence  a  large  proportion 
are  free  to  live  their  own  life,  and  many  still  work  on  the 
plantations  for  white  people  or  obtain  land  to  work  for 
themselves.  In  Miss  Garnham's  report,  which  has  been 
published  by  a  Sydney  committee  representing  many 
organisations,  principally  women's,  in  Australia  and  New 
Zealand,  it  is  pointed  out  that  there  are  now  61,000  Indians 
in  Fiji,  and  that  only  4,700  are  at  present  under  indenture. 
A  summary  of  the  report  runs  :  "  By  November,  1921, 
there  will  be  no  Indians  working  under  indenture,  but  the 
evils  arising  from  the  system  are  not  likely  to  be  eradicated 
for  many  years,  and  only  then  if  some  special  means  are 
taken  to  accomplish  reform  in  the  social,  moral,  and 
religious  life  of  the  people.  Miss  Garnham  quotes  statistics 

*  Fiji  Times,  August  24th,  1918. 

o2 


196  STEVENSON'S   GERMANY 

to  show  that  the  suicide  rate  is  abnormally  high  amongst 
the  Indian  community  in  Fiji,  and  attributes  this  in  a  large 
measure  to  what  she  describes  as  the  abnormal  sex  dis- 
proportion provided  for  under  the  indenture  system."  * 
The  question  of  the  "  lines  "  is  answered  by  the  writer  in 
the  Fiji  Times  with  the  reminder  that  these  are  disappear- 
ing by  a  process  of  evolution,  and  that  they  "  have  been 
ordered  by  the  Indian  Government,  not  only  in  Fiji,  but 
wherever  East  Indians  have  been  permitted  to  labour 
under  Government  regulation."  In  many  parts  of  India, 
even  to-day,  it  is  urged,  "  lines,"  and  "  not  such  good  and 
healthy  ones  as  those  in  Fiji,  are  to  be  found." 

The  whole  difficulty  of  immorality  must  be  faced  in  the 
home  conditions  of  millions  of  Indians  before  they  emigrate. 
This  is  broadly  the  reply  to  those  who  place  Fiji  in  the 
pillory,  and  Abbe"  Dubois's  standard  work, "  Hindu  Manners, 
Customs  and  Ceremonies,"  may  be  quoted  with  considerable 
effect.  Juvenile  precocity  in  vice  is  just  as  remarkable  in 
India  as  in  Fiji,  and  while  this  cannot  be  used  as  an  argu- 
ment for  condoning  conditions  which  must  stimulate  and 
not  correct  the  mischief,  it  would  evidently  be  unfair  to 
bear  too  heavily  upon  the  environment,  as  against  the 
inherited  tendencies  of  Indian  children.  Early  marriages 
are  the  Indian  reply  to  it  all.  As  to  Indian  marriages  in 
Fiji  not  being  legal,  the  complications  of  custom  are  so 
great  that  the  Indian  Government  has  again  placed  its  veto 
upon  the  proposal  to  include  them  in  a  general  law  intended 
to  remove  whatever  difficulties  may  exist.  The  attack 
made  upon  Fiji  in  connection  with  the  death-rate  among 
Indians  is  met  with  the  rejoinder  that  it  is  only  one -third 
of  the  death-rate  in  India.  Thus  the  Fijian  Medical 
*  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  November  16th,  1918. 


CONCLUSIONS  197 

Department   seems   to   be   doing   its   duty.     Among   the 
Indian  population  living  in  "  lines  "  the  birth-rate  is  higher 
than  among  the  "  free  "  Indians.     The  writer  to  the  Fiji 
Times  continues  :    "  Considering  that  in  India  the  males 
outnumber  the  females  in  the  proportion  of  100  to  95-4, 
while  in  Fiji  amongst  Indians  the  proportion  is  only  100  to 
54-5,  the  fact  that  our  birth-rate  is  almost  equal  to  that  of 
India  is  a  most  hopeful  feature  in  itself.    And,  moreover, 
as  Messrs.  McNeill  and  Chimman  Lai  point  out  (p.  320), 
the  'proportion  of  females  steadily  rises  in  the  resident 
population.'  "  *     Much  of  this  will,  perhaps,  be  refused  by 
objectors  as  so  much  generalisation,   and  generalisations 
have  been  declared  to  be  the  most  dangerous  form  of  truth, 
because  liable  to  become  hopeless  untruths.    It  is  stated 
in  Miss  Garnham's  report :    "  Europeans  seemed  to  be 
under  the  impression  that  the  Indian  immigrant  had  but 
brought  an  immoral  mode  of  life  with  him  into  the  colony. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  home  life  of  the  village  people  in  the 
United  Provinces,  the  district  from  which  most  of  the 
Indian  people  are  recruited,  is  the  purest  in  the  whole 
world."    This  is  a  generalisation,  and  one  does  not  chal- 
lenge it  here  as  a  half-truth.     But,  after  reading  both  sides 
in  this  interesting  and  important  controversy,  one  feels 
that  more  remains  to  be  said,  in  which  the  Government  of 
India  will  again  be  involved,  and  in  which  statements  by 
earnest  people,  concerned  to  see  fair  play  given  to  Indians 
in  Fiji,  may  be  countered  by  facts  offered  by  equally  earnest 
people  anxious  that  fair  play  shall  prevail  all  round.     It 
becomes  a  question  of  trying  to  get  the  whole  problem 
stated  before  arguing  from  one  side  or  the  other.     Again, 
it  is  really  the  problem  of  India,  but  most  emphatically  it 
*  Fiji  Times,  September,  1918. 


198  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

is  also  the  problem  of  how  best  to  reconcile  the  need  of 
labour  in  the  Pacific  with  justice  to  white  men  and  to 
natives.  The  former  must  have  help  to  develop  the 
marvellous  potentialities  of  the  tropics  ;  and  the  latter 
only  ask  to  be  given  a  chance  of  working  in  the  Pacific  at 
higher  wages  and  under  better  conditions  than  they  have 
been  used  to  in  India.  In  the  new  order  old  racial  weak- 
nesses and  vices  seem  to  gather  momentum,  and  yet  a 
rising  level  of  health  and  of  physical  comfort  are  evidently 
the  outcome  of  Indian  activity  in  Fiji.  Against  that  is  the 
breaking  down  of  the  safeguards  of  communal  life  as  left 
behind  in  India ;  and  there  is  a  growth  of  disorder  which 
the  white  man  finds  it  difficult  to  control.  But  the  Briton 
is  genuinely  concerned  to  remedy  existing  or  growing  evils, 
while  the  German  only  thinks  of  using  the  native  of  any 
caste  or  colour  to  suit  himself.  Morals,  missionary  enter- 
prise, and  civilisation  as  such,  have  not  troubled  him 
at  all. 

In  offering  this  summary,  the  object  is  to  show  how 
seriously  British  people  in  the  Pacific,  as  well  as  natives  in 
and  out  of  India,  are  discussing  a  complicated  problem. 
There  is  a  genuine  desire  among  principals  to  do  what  is 
right  and  reasonable,  and  this  applies  as  much  to  the 
largest  employers  of  Indian  labour  in  Fiji  as  to  the  mission- 
aries themselves,  who  have  taken  up  the  burden  of  voicing 
Indian  unrest.  Germany  cannot  say  that  there  is  any 
failure  in  the  honest  intention  to  do  the  best  for  the  Indians, 
but  she  may  scornfully  note  that  there  has  been  invincible 
ignorance,  with  a  plentiful  lack  of  the  German  thoroughness 
and  organisation  which  have  worked  such  wonders  in 
Africa  and  the  Pacific — though  she  may  not  now  cynically 
admit  that  they  were  backed  up  by  the  lash  and  emphasised 


CONCLUSIONS  199 

with  rifle  shots.  Thus  we  come  back  to  the  spirit  behind 
British  administration,  which  has  shown  a  sincere  regard 
for  the  well-being  of  the  natives  as  human  beings  and  a 
genuine  determination  to  help  them  up  the  ladder  of 
civilisation.  This  must  be  the  test  of  Germany's  claims 
to  be  left  in  possession  of  her  colonies.  But  here  it  should 
be  urged  that  the  great  problem  of  developing  the  resources 
of  the  various  islands  and  island  groups  will  never  be  solved 
merely  by  warm-hearted  and  soft-handed  ways  with  the 
natives  of  the  Pacific.  They  cannot  be  left  to  themselves  ; 
and  in  Fiji  and  Samoa  especially,  they  must  be  roused 
effectively  to  occupy  and  develop  their  lands.  Yet  during 
the  process  of  building  them  up,  so  that  their  numbers  shall 
increase  and  in  order  that  they  shall  be  equipped  with 
crafts  and  agricultural  knowledge,  large  estates  held  by 
white  men  must  be  kept  going.  Recruiting  for  labour  in 
the  Solomons  and  New  Guinea  is  under  strict  regulation ; 
but  even  there  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  demands  for 
help  are  to  be  met  in  any  large  future  for  European  enter- 
prise. The  difficulties  which  surround  the  employment  of 
Indians  in  Fiji  are  already  paralleled  in  other  groups  and 
islands.  Pacific  Island  natives,  with  every  care  taken,  find 
themselves  in  uncongenial  surroundings  and  with  work  to 
do  for  which  they  never  really  contracted.  They  are  often 
adventurous.  They  wish  to  see  the  world  and  to  get  into 
the  white  man's  wonderful  domain  of  new  things,  and 
they  assent  to  every  proposition  as  natives  will.  So  they 
are  recruited.  But  they  cannot  go  in  company  with  their 
women  in  the  majority  of  cases,  and  they  have  no  con- 
ception at  first  of  a  life  under  contract  with  the  daily  round 
and  common  task  of  plantation  work.  "  Lines,"  with 
their  apparent  confinement,  lack  of  feminine  companionship 


200  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

and  allurement,  sickness  following  loneliness,  disease, 
perhaps  as  the  result  of  new  and  uncongenial  conditions, 
have  all  provided  material  for  adverse  reports.  The 
employment  of  native  labour  in  the  Pacific  is  full  of  per- 
plexity and  despair,  although  the  object  in  view  seems  to 
be  so  easily  attainable  and  is  so  genuinely  worth  reaching. 
It  is  to  the  interest  of  everybody,  white  man  and  brown 
alike,  that  plantations  should  be  cultivated  and  should 
prosper  ;  and  yet  the  average  planter  has  too  often  a  heart 
full  of  bitterness  against  the  Government,  the  Government 
official,  or  the  missionary ;  while  the  latter  in  turn  can 
draw  a  case  against  the  other  three,  frequently  at  a 
moment's  notice. 

But  Asia  must  reinforce  Australasia  in  the  Pacific,  and 
so  serve  Europe  along  lines  corrected  by  the  disappoint- 
ments and  difficulties  here  outlined.  Dr.  Mayer  quotes 
Dutch  administration  in  Java  as  showing  what  may  be 
done  for  Fiji ;  but  in  Java,  Chinese  and  Arabs  are  not 
treated  as  aliens  and  immiscible,  but  as  friends,  and  finally 
as  good  citizens.  In  other  ways  also  the  Dutch  have 
undoubtedly  set  an  excellent  example  in  their  treatment  of 
the  Javanese,  and  success  may  well  follow  British  enterprise 
in  the  same  direction.  British  administration  in  the  Malay 
States  is  proving  itself  capable  of  the  same  foresight,  energy, 
and  sound  discretion.  All  that  is  needed  is  an  extension  of 
the  same  principles  through  the  Pacific  by  appointing  the 
most  capable  men  to  take  charge  and  by  giving  them  full 
confidence  and  a  free  hand.  The  United  States  is  doing 
this  in  the  Philippines,  and  while  it  may  be  objected  that 
this  great  group  and  the  whole  of  Malaysia  are  in  a  position 
of  advantage  with  regard  to  Asia,  both  naturally  and 
because  of  a  large  population  inured  to  work,  the  reply  is 


CONCLUSIONS  201 

fairly  obvious.  Proximity  to  Asia  has  not  been  all  help 
for  Holland  and  America,  but  rather  the  reverse  ;  and  a 
large  native  population  has  not  meant  continued  peace  in 
the  past,  but  intermittent  warfare.  The  fine  examples 
which  the  Philippines  and  the  Dutch  East  Indies  offer  are 
evidence  of  great  obstacles  overcome  and  of  a  steady 
determination  that  the  natives  shall  not  fall  back  through 
any  failure  to  understand  them.  Yet  it  remains  true  that 
the  wide  waters  of  the  Pacific,  with  scattered  populations 
upon  many  island  groups  and  on  innumerable  single  islands, 
are  a  heavy  handicap  as  well  as  a  broad  highway  ;  and  no 
great  development  of  these  tropical  resources  will  be 
possible  unless  Asia  can  be  drawn  in  without  prejudicing 
the  present  liberties  or  the  future  livelihood  of  peoples 
already  in  possession.  Through  the  Indian  Ocean  before 
the  war  there  was  a  constant  stream  of  vessels  carrying 
Indian  labourers  and  their  families  to  and  from  plantations 
at  various  points,  and  no  indenture  system  was  needed. 
The  demand  for  labour  was  constant  and  the  remuneration 
was  good.  Consequently  the  work  of  providing  a  sufficient 
supply  of  labour  became  profitable.  It  was  just  the 
experience  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  or  of  Italy  or 
South  America,  when  labourers  crossed  the  sea  for  harvest 
time  or  to  obtain  work  for  a  term  and  then  went  home 
again.  Why  should  not  the  problems  of  labour  in  the 
Pacific  be  solved  in  the  same  way,  the  native  races  to  be 
used  as  they  show  capacity  and  ambition  ?  The  spirit  of 
British  and  American  regard  for  human  life  and  human 
rights  would  assuredly  be  sufficient  for  these  things,  while 
that  of  Germany  would  as  certainly  prove  to  be  their 
undoing. 

Finally,  the  argument  against  Germany  may  be  com- 


202  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

pleted  in  the  assurance  that  her  thought  of  the  Pacific  has 
always  been  one  of  strategic  possession.  She  occupied 
point  after  point  with  the  determination  to  grasp  the  real 
prizes  of  the  ocean,  as  she  regarded  them,  in  the  rich 
islands  of  Malaysia  and  the  lands  of  Australasia.  The 
thought  of  developing  them  was  the  last  thing  on  the  list. 
To  be  given  afresh  her  points  d'appui  would  only  revive 
the  old  ambition  and  provide  once  more  the  means  to 
gratify  it.  It  would  lead  her  again  into  temptation.  This 
is  the  conviction  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  and  it  is 
profound  and  ineradicable.  They  have  been  too  long 
under  the  shadow  not  to  have  felt  the  reality  of  a  great 
aggressor  close  at  hand.  They  feel  that  Germany  has  been 
studying  the  Pacific  from  the  viewpoint  of  war  for  more 
than  a  generation  ;  and  they  cannot  see  how  she  is  to 
recover  a  humble  mind  and  a  sane  outlook  simply  by  being 
disappointed  and  broken.  Her  conversion  to  ways  of 
peace  may  be  real  enough,  though  that  has  to  be  proved ; 
but  her  ability  to  use  her  possessions  for  peaceful  trade  in 
co-operation  with  the  British,  the  French,  and  the  Ameri- 
cans is  more  than  doubtful.  The  whole  theory  of  possession 
will  have  to  be  destroyed  ;  and  "  German  "  values  may 
only  be  restored  by  militant  thought  and  action,  not  by 
honest  commercial  and  industrial  development. 

It  may,  however,  be  asked  :  Why  not  give  Germany  a 
chance  ?  Her  Pacific  possessions  are  well  worth  developing, 
and  she  will  soon  find  it  pay  to  be  peacefully  industrious 
when  raw  materials  must  be  found  for  her  factories. 
These  questions  may  be  effectively  answered  by  an  appeal 
to  the  past  and  not  by  expressing  hopes  of  wise  conduct  in 
the  future.  Australia  and  New  Zealand  have  paid  for 
safety  (as  part  of  a  great  Empire)  with  their  best  life's 


CONCLUSIONS  203 

blood  ;  and  they  did  not  count  the  cost  when  Belgium  was 
invaded.  They  put  the  integrity  of  a  small  nation  before 
their  own  immediate  interests,  for  they  realised  that  a 
great  principle  was  at  stake.  Their  own  integrity  was 
involved  in  that  of  Belgium's,  but  essentially  because  the 
same  great,  hungry,  ruthless  Power  had  threatened  both. 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  were  challenged  in  the  Pacific, 
and  were  to  be  conquered  from  that  ocean  when  the  time 
came.  Therefore,  as  Belgium  is  to  be  put  out  of  danger 
from  future  attack,  so  Australasia  feels  that  her  safety 
demands  the  sacrifice  of  German  possessions.  How  they 
shall  be  disposed  of  is  not  a  matter  for  discussion  here ; 
but,  at  any  rate,  Germany  cannot  ever  again  be  accepted 
by  Britons  as  a  neighbour  in  the  Pacific. 

Perhaps  the  last  word  may  be  given  with  advantage  in 
the  speech  of  the  acting  Prime  Minister  of  Australia  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  just  after  the  signing  of  the  terms 
of  armistice  between  the  Allied  Powers  and  Germany.  Mr. 
Watt  said  that  naval  opinion  on  the  question  tended  only 
in  one  direction.  "  From  a  naval  and  defensive  point  of 
view  Australia  had  an  outlying  frontier,  of  which  a  large 
part  was  made  up  of  Papua,  the  Bismarck  Archipelago, 
Solomon  Islands,  and  the  Fijian  group.  Beyond  that 
frontier  there  were  look-out  posts  which  it  was  important 
that  Australia  should  understand,  and,  if  possible,  govern. 
The  late  German  possessions  in  New  Guinea,  the  Bismarck 
Archipelago,  and  Bougainville  in  the  Solomons,  formed  an 
important  part  of  that  frontier,  and  perhaps  the  most 
important  part.  The  naval  advisers  to  the  Government 
stated  that  from  a  strictly  naval  point  of  view  the  Bismarck 
Archipelago  was  the  strategic  centre  of  the  whole  of  the 
Pacific.  They  further  advised  that  in  order  to  obtain  the 


204  STEVENSON'S  GERMANY 

same  degree  of  defence  as  the  possession  of  those  islands 
would  mean  this  country  would  be  involved  in  the  annual 
expenditure  of  several  million  pounds.  In  a  part  of  those 
possessions  was  one  of  the  finest  outlines  for  a  naval  base 
in  the  southern  hemisphere.  There  were  several  first-rate 
harbours  within  reasonable  distance  of  one  another.  There 
was  also  a  magnificent  river,  navigable  for  300  or  400  miles 
from  its  mouth,  with  no  bar  at  its  entrance,  and  equipment 
such  as  probably  no  harbour  in  Australia  had.  In  the  same 
group  there  were  indications  of  oil  supplies,  and  therefore 
they  would  be  a  valuable  asset.  It  was  beyond  the 
hurricane  belt,  and  from  the  naval  point  of  view  immensely 
important.  It  was  further  said  by  the  advisers  of  the 
Government  that  if  they  were  to  allow  the  enemy  to 
dribble  back  to  the  Pacific  Islands  it  would  be  a  menace 
so  imminent  that  an  attack  could  be  made  within  the 
limits  of  one  day  on  the  coast  by  aeroplane,  and  two  or 
three  days  by  ordinary  naval  craft.  An  attack  such  as 
would  be  possible  from  the  north  could  be  made  not  only 
on  our  ports,  but  on  all  our  trade  routes.  If  submarine 
warfare  was  to  be  a  feature  of  the  future,  such  a  danger 
spot  might  practically  cut  Australia  off  from  the  rest  of 
the  world  as  far  as  shipping  and  cable  communication  were 
concerned,  and  Instead  of  the  great  immunity  which  the 
Australians  had  enjoyed  during  the  past  four  critical  years, 
thanks  to  the  British  Navy,  they  might  have  no  possibility 
of  exchanging  products  or  men  oversea.  Instead  of 
prosperity  and  immunity  they  would  have  isolation  such 
as  they  could  not  bear  to  think  of."  * 

This  speech  was  made  in  support  of  a  resolution  that  has 
since  been  endorsed  by  and  carried  through  both  Houses 
*  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  November  15th,  1918. 


CONCLUSIONS  205 

of  the  Australian  Parliament.  Mr.  Watt's  conclusions, 
therefore,  must  be  accepted  as  authoritative  and  repre- 
sentative. He  declared  that  he  had  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that  any  proposition  to  restore  German  possessions  would 
be  exceedingly  dangerous.  "  From  an  Australian  point  of 
view  restoration  would  be  equivalent  to  a  German  victory. 
New  Zealand  stood  foursquare  with  Australia  on  that 
matter,  and  the  utterances  of  her  leaders,  irrespective  of 
party,  had  been  similar  to  the  utterances  by  the  Australian 
Government,  straight  against  restoration,  because  the 
interests  of  the  two  Dominions  were  absolutely  identical. 
If  for  no  other  reason  than  the  cruelty  Germany  had  shown 
to  the  natives  of  her  various  possessions,  humanity  would  be 
justified  in  expelling  her.  In  no  island  country  over  which 
the  German  flag  had  flown  during  the  last  80  years  was 
there  anything  in  the  native  heart  but  hatred  for  German 
masters."  * 

Nothing  could  be  more  decisive  as  an  appeal  from  the 
British  Dominions  under  the  Southern  Cross ;  and  in  the 
new  day  that  is  breaking  they  are  looking  forward  to 
strenuous  progress  under  the  flag  of  Empire,  but  freed  from 
an  incubus  which  has  proved  increasingly  heavy  during 
the  last  three  decades. 

*  Sydney  Morning  Herald,  November  15th,  1918. 


APPENDIX    A 

IN  1886  there  was  first  of  all  an  exchange  of  notes,  and 
subsequently  a  declaration  between  the  Governments  of  Great 
Britain  and  Germany  demarcating  their  spheres  of  influence 
in  the  Western  Pacific.  Then  there  was  a  further  declaration 
the  text  of  which  is  given  below.  It  will  be  seen  from  Appendix 
B.,  which  contains  the  text  of  a  Convention  and  Declaration 
between  Great  Britain  and  Germany  for  the  settlement  of 
Samoan  and  other  questions  in  1900,  that  a  statement  is  made 
regarding  the  German  rights  of  recruiting  in  the  British  Solomons. 
It  may  be  assumed  that  it  had  been  the  practice  of  the  Germans 
to  recruit  in  the  British  Solomons,  but  not  the  practice  of  the 
British  to  recruit  in  the  German  Solomons.  At  that  time  it 
will  be  remembered  that  there  were  not  many  British  planta- 
tions in  the  Solomons  at  all,  but  the  right  which  was  conferred 
by  the  Declaration  of  1886  was  hardly  affected  by  the  fact  that 
no  specific  mention  was  made  of  the  rights  of  the  British  to 
recruit  in  the  German  islands. 

DECLARATION  between  the  Governments  of  Great  Britain  and 
the  German  Empire  :  relating  to  the  Reciprocal  Freedom 
of  Trade  and  Commerce  in  the  British  and  German  Posses- 
sions and  Protectorates  in  the  Western  Pacific.  Signed  at 
Berlin,  April  10,  1886.  <r 

The  Government  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  Government  of 
His  Majesty  the  German  Emperor,  having  resolved  to  guarantee 
to  each  other,  so  soon  as  the  British  and  German  spheres  of 
influence  in  the  Western  Pacific  have  been  demarcated,  reci- 
procal freedom  of  trade  and  commerce  in  their  possessions  and 
Protectorates  within  the  limits  specified  in  the  present  Declara- 
tion, the  undersigned,  Sir  Edward  Baldwin  Malet,  Her  Britannic 
Majesty's  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and  Plenipotentiary ; 
and  Count  Herbert  Bismarck,  His  Imperial  Majesty's  Under- 


208  APPENDIX  A 

Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  having  been  duly  em- 
powered to  that  effect,  have  agreed,  on  behalf  of  their  respective 
Governments,  to  make  the  following  Declaration  : — 

ART.  1. — For  the  purpose  of  this  Declaration  the  expression 
"  Western  Pacific  "  means  that  part  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  lying 
between  the  15th  parallel  of  north  latitude  and  the  SOth  parallel 
of  south  latitude,  and  between  the  165th  meridian  of  longitude 
west  and  the  130th  meridian  of  longitude  east  of  Greenwich. 

ART.  2. — The  Government  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  and  the 
Government  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  agree  that  the  subjects 
of  either  State  shall  be  free  to  resort  to  all  the  possessions  or 
Protectorates  of  the  other  State  in  the  Western  Pacific,  and  to 
settle  there,  and  to  acquire  and  to  hold  all  kinds  of  property, 
and  to  engage  in  all  descriptions  of  trade  and  professions,  and 
agricultural  and  industrial  undertakings,  subject  to  the  same 
conditions  and  laws,  and  enjoying  the  same  religious  freedom, 
and  the  same  protection  and  privileges,  as  the  subjects  of  the 
Sovereign  or  Protecting  State. 

ART.  8. — In  all  the  British  and  German  possessions  and 
Protectorates  in  the  Western  Pacific  the  ships  of  both  States 
shall  in  all  respects  reciprocally  enjoy  equal  treatment  as  well 
as  most-favoured-nation  treatment,  and  merchandise  of  what- 
ever origin  imported  by  the  subjects  of  either  State,  under 
whatever  flag,  shall  not  be  liable  to  any  other  or  higher  duties 
than  that  imported  by  the  subjects  of  the  other  State  or  of  any 
third  Power. 

ART.  4. — All  disputed  claims  to  land  alleged  to  have  been 
acquired  by  a  British  subject  in  a  German  possession  or  Protec- 
torate, or  by  a  German  subject  in  a  British  possession  or 
Protectorate,  prior  to  the  Proclamation  of  Sovereignty  or 
Protectorate  by  either  of  the  two  Governments,  shall  be  examined 
and  decided  by  a  Mixed  Commission,  to  be  nominated  for  that 
purpose  by  the  two  Governments. 

The  claim  may,  however,  be  settled  by  the  local  Authority 
alone,  if  the  claimant  to  the  land  makes  formal  application  to 
that  effect. 

ART.  5. — Both  Governments  engage  not  to  establish  any 
Penal  Settlements  in,  or  to  transport  convicts  to,  the  Western 
Pacific. 


APPENDIX  A  209 

ART.  6. — In  this  Declaration  the  words  "  possessions  and 
Protectorates  in  the  Western  Pacific  "  shall  not  include  the 
Colonies  which  now  have  fully  constituted  Governments  and 
Legislatures. 

The  present  Declaration  shall  take  effect  from  the  date  of  its 
signature. 

Declared  and  signed,  in  duplicate,  at  Berlin,  this  10th  day  of 
April,  1886. 

(L.S.)  EDWARD  B.  MALET. 

(L.S.)  GRAF  BISMARCK. 


S.G. 


APPENDIX    B 

(From  "Hertslet's  Commercial  Treaties.") 
CONVENTION  AND  DECLARATION  between  Great  Britain  and 
Germany,  for  the  Settlement  of  the  Samoan  and  other 
Questions  (West  Africa,  Zanzibar,  etc.).    Signed  at  London, 
November  14,  1899.* 

(Ratifications  exchanged  at  London  and  Berlin ,  February  16, 

1900.) 

The  Commissioners  of  the  three  Powers  concerned,  having  in 
their  Report  of  the  18th  July  last  expressed  the  opinion,  based 
on  a  thorough  examination  of  the  situation,  that  it  would  be 
impossible  effectually  to  remedy  the  troubles  and  difficulties 
under  which  the  Islands  of  Samoa  are  at  present  suffering  as 
long  as  they  are  placed  under  the  joint  administration  of  the 
three  Governments,  it  appears  desirable  to  seek  for  a  solution 
which  shall  put  an  end  to  these  difficulties,  while  taking  due 
account  of  the  legitimate  interests  of  the  three  Governments. 

Starting  from  this  point  of  view  the  Undersigned,  furnished 
with  full  powers  to  that  effect  by  their  respective  Sovereigns, 
have  agreed  on  the  following  points  : — 

ART.  1. — Great  Britain  renounces  in  favour  of  Germany  all 
her  rights  over  the  Islands  of  Upolu  and  of  Savaii,  including 
the  right  of  establishing  a  naval  and  coaling  station  there,  and 
her  right  of  extra-territoriality  in  these  islands. 

Great  Britain  similarly  renounces,  in  favour  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  all  her  rights  over  the  Island  of  Tutuila  and 
the  other  islands  of  the  Samoan  group  east  of  171°  longitude 
west  of  Greenwich.")" 

Great  Britain  recognizes  as  falling  to  Germany  the  Territories 
in  the  Eastern  part  of  the  neutral  zone  established  by  the 

*  Signed  also  in  the  German  language. 

t  See  Convention  between  Great  Britain,  Germany  and  the  United 
States,  of  December  2nd,  1899,  p.  1182. 


APPENDIX  B  211 

Arrangement  of  1888  in  West  Africa.*  The  limits  of  the 
portion  of  the  neutral  zone  falling  to  Germany  are  defined  in 
Article  5  of  the  present  Convention. 

ART.  2. — Germany  renounces  in  favour  of  Great  Britain  all 
her  rights  over  the  Tonga  Islands,  including  Vavau,  and  over 
Savage  Island,  including  the  right  of  establishing  a  naval 
station  and  coaling  station,  and  the  right  of  extra-territoriality 
in  the  said  islands. 

Germany  similarly  renounces,  in  favour  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  all  her  rights  over  the  Island  of  Tutuila  and  over 
the  other  islands  of  the  Samoan  group  east  of  longitude  171° 
west  of  Greenwich.! 

She  recognizes  as  falling  to  Great  Britain  those  of  the  Solomon 
Islands, J  at  present  belonging  to  Germany,  which  are  situated 
to  the  East  and  South-East  of  the  Island  of  Bougainville,  which 
latter  shall  continue  to  belong  to  Germany,  together  with  the 
Island  of  Buka,  which  forms  part  of  it. 

The  Western  portion  of  the  neutral  zone  in  West  Africa,  as 
defined  in  Article  5  of  the  present  Convention,  shall  also  fall  to 
the  share  of  Great  Britain. 

ART.  3. — The  Consuls  of  the  two  Powers  at  Apia  and  in  the 
Tonga  Islands  shall  be  provisionally  recalled. 

The  two  Governments  will  come  to  an  agreement  with  regard 
to  the  arrangements  to  be  made  during  the  interval  in  the  interest 
of  their  navigation  and  of  their  commerce  in  Samoa  and  Tonga. 

ART.  4. — The  arrangement  at  present  existing  between 
Germany  and  Great  Britain,  and  concerning  the  right  of  Ger- 
many to  freely  engage  labourers  in  the  Solomon  Islands  belonging 
to  Great  Britain,  shall  be  equally  extended  to  those  of  the 
Solomon  Islands  mentioned  in  Article  2,  which  fall  to  the  share 
of  Great  Britain. 

ART.  5. — In  the  neutral  zone  the  frontier  between  the  German 
and  English  territories  shall  be  formed  by  the  River  Daka  as 
far  as  the  point  of  its  intersection  with  the  9th  degree  of  north 
latitude,  thence  the  frontier  shall  continue  to  the  north,  leaving 
Morozugu  to  Great  Britain,  and  shall  be  fixed  on  the  spot  by  a 

*  See  Vol.  18,  p.  458  (footnote). 

t  See  Convention  between  Great  Britain,  Germany  and  the  United 
States,  of  December  2nd,  1899,  p.  1182. 
J  See  Declaration,  p.  1180. 


212  APPENDIX  B 

mixed  Commission  of  the  two  Powers,  in  such  manner  that 
Gambaga  and  all  the  territories  of  Mamprusi  shall  fall  to  Great 
Britain,  and  that  Yendi  and  all  the  territories  of  Chakosi  shall 
fall  to  Germany. 

ART.  6. — Germany  is  prepared  to  take  into  consideration,  as 
much  and  as  far  as  possible,  the  wishes  which  the  Government 
of  Great  Britain  may  express  with  regard  to  the  development 
of  the  reciprocal  Tariffs  in  the  territories  of  Togo  and  of  the 
Gold  Coast. 

ART.  7. — Germany  renounces  her  rights  of  extra-territoriality 
in  Zanzibar,  but  it  is  at  the  same  time  understood  that  this 
renunciation  shall  not  effectively  come  into  force  until  such 
time  as  the  rights  of  extra-territoriality  enjoyed  there  by  other 
nations  shall  be  abolished. 

ART.  8. — The  present  Convention  shall  be  ratified  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  shall  come  into  force  immediately  after  the 
exchange  of  ratifications. 

In  witness  whereof  the  Undersigned  have  signed  it,  and  have 
affixed  thereto  their  seals. 

Done  in  duplicate  at  London,  the  14th  day  of  November,  1899. 
(L.S.)  SALISBURY. 

(L.S.)  P.  HATZFELDT. 

DECLARATION. 

It  is  clearly  understood  that  by  Article  2  of  the  Convention 
signed  to-day,  Germany  consents  that  the  whole  group  of  the 
Howe  Islands,  which  forms  part  of  the  Solomon  Islands,  shall 
fall  to  Great  Britain. 

It  is  also  understood  that  the  stipulations  of  the  Declaration 
between  the  two  Governments  signed  at  Berlin  on  the  10th  April, 
1886,*  respecting  freedom  of  commerce  in  the  Western  Pacific, 
apply  to  the  islands  mentioned  in  the  aforesaid  Convention. 

It  is  similarly  understood  that  the  arrangement  at  present  in 
force  as  to  the  engagement  of  labourers  by  Germans  in  the 
Solomon  Islands  permits  Germans  to  engage  those  labourers  on 
the  same  conditions  as  those  which  are  or  which  shall  be  imposed 
on  British  subjects  non-resident  in  those  islands. 

Done  in  duplicate  at  London,  the  14th  November,  1899. 
(L.S.)  SALISBURY. 

(L.S.)  P.  HATZFELDT. 

*  See  Vol.  17,  p.  443. 


APPENDIX    C 

(Extract  from  The  Australasian  Medical  Gazette,  June,  1885.) 

THE  opening  speech  of  His  Honor  the  Administrator  of  the 
Fijian  Government,  Dr.  W.  MacGregor,  C,M.G.,  at  the  Annual 
Meeting  of  Chiefs  held  at  Tavuki,  Kadavu,  on  May  4th,  1885. 

We  heartily  congratulate  the  Colony  of  Fiji  on  its  good 
fortune  as  exhibited  in  the  appointment  by  the  Imperial 
Government  of  His  Honor,  William  MacGregor,  M.D.,  C.M.G., 
etc.,  etc.,  as  Administrator  of  the  Government  of  that  Colony 
since  the  departure  of  Sir  William  des  Vocux.  We  reprint  that 
portion  of  the  English  translation  of  the  opening  speech, 
delivered  by  him  in  the  Fijian  language,  at  the  Annual  Meeting 
of  Chiefs  held  at  Tavuki,  Kadavu,  on  May  4, 1885,  which  relates 
to  sanitary  matters  ;  its  perusal  will  make  manifest  how  much 
to  the  advantage  of  the  native  population  it  is  that  members  of 
our  profession  should  be  chosen  as  governors  of  new  colonies 
containing  a  large  native  population,  or  where  the  health  of  the 
people,  white  or  coloured,  is  suffering  from  defective  sanitary 
arrangements,  capable  of  improvement.  It  will  be  seen  that 
His  Honor's  remarks  are  eminently  practical,  and  such  as  could 
only  come  with  good  effect  at  first  hand,  but  not  nearly  to  so 
good  purpose  if  the  advice  of  a  medical  officer  filtered  through 
a  lay  governor.  The  decrease  of  the  population  during  last 
year,  consequent  on  an  epidemic  of  whooping  cough,  though 
not  nearly  so  great  as  that  caused  by  measles  a  few  years  since, 
is  yet  of  a  very  serious  nature,  and  proves  how  essential  strict 
quarantine  is  for  the  protection  of  an  aboriginal  population. 
The  remarks  as  to  the  houses  are  practical  and  wise,  and  the 
careful  consideration  for  native  usage  in  the  respect  due  to  the 
chiefs  in  this  matter  is  most  praiseworthy,  and  exhibits  the 
careful  thought  displayed  by  Dr.  MacGregor  on  native  affairs. 
The  advice  given  with  regard  to  the  native  food  supply  cannot 
help  doing  good,  and  it  is  by  recommendations  such  as  these 


214  APPENDIX  C 

that  we  may  hope  to  see  the  evils  consequent  on  deficient  food 
reduced  to  a  minimum.  The  training  of  native  youths  for  the 
practice  of  medicine  amongst  their  countrymen  is  the  result 
solely  of  Dr.  MacGregor's  action,  and  shows  practical  good  sense 
and  true  philanthropy  in  its  conception  and  execution,  and  is 
but  one  of  the  many  examples  of  the  paternal  care  exercised  by 
the  British  Government  in  its  treatment  of  its  native  subjects 
in  all  its  dependencies. 

We  now  reprint  the  portion  of  the  opening  speech  referred  to 
above : — 

"  I  have  now  to  direct  your  attention  to  a  matter  of  extreme 
importance  that  has  caused  me  much  sorrow  and  regret. 

"  I  am  pained  to  tell  you  that,  during  the  year  ending  Sep- 
tember last,  there  was  a  large  decrease  in  the  number  of  the 
people,  there  being  actually  2,562  more  deaths  than  births. 
You,  chiefs,  will  see  at  once  how  serious  this  matter  is,  and  you 
will  not  wonder  when  I  tell  you  that  I  consider  it  of  infinitely 
greater  importance  than  anything  else  you  can  discuss  at  this 
Council.  Do  not  the  Government  and  the  chiefs  exist  only  for 
the  good  of  the  people  ?  You,  Rokos,  are  the  deputies  of  the 
Governor.  Your  duties  are  to  be  as  a  father  to  your  people, 
to  lead  them,  to  teach  them,  to  feed  them  ;  and  the  Queen  will 
hold  her  Governor  and  you  responsible  for  their  welfare.  It  is 
therefore  our  duty  to  find  out  why  the  people  have  decreased  in 
numbers,  and  when  we  have  discovered  the  reasons,  then  we 
must  secure  and  apply  the  remedy. 

"  The  principal,  if  not  the  sole,  immediate  cause  of  the  great 
decrease  of  last  year  was  an  epidemic  of  whooping  cough. 
This  is  an  insidious  disease  which  we  cannot  keep  out  of  Fiji. 
True,  we  have  kept  out  small -pox  and  cholera  by  detaining 
people  and  ships  in  quarantine  for  a  long  time.  But  I  must  tell 
you  that  measles  and  whooping  cough  cannot  be  kept  away 
from  you.  Fortunately,  measles  and  whooping  cough  rarely 
attack  the  same  person  more  than  once.  Moreover,  if  towns 
are  clean,  houses  good,  and  the  people  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances, measles  and  whooping  cough  do  not  often  cause  many 
deaths  in  other  countries. 

"  In  time  to  come  there  will  be  a  great  many  more  deaths 
from  dysentery  than  from  measles  and  whooping  cough.  Pro- 


APPENDIX  C  215 

bably  few  will  die  of  the  two  last  diseases  in  future.  You  know 
that  mortality  is  heavy  here  without  the  presence  of  any  new 
epidemic  disease ;  but  the  same  causes,  you  must  remember, 
that  occasion  this  heavy  mortality  in  ordinary  years,  greatly 
increase  the  number  of  deaths  from  any  epidemic  disease. 

"  Now,  what  are  these  causes  ?  This  question  you  have 
discussed  in  each  Council,  but  not  with  that  earnestness  which 
the  extreme  importance  of  the  subject  demands.  The  time  for 
indifference  is  past. 

" 1  believe  the  people  are  dying  from  these  causes : — First, 
bad  houses  ;  second,  insufficient  food ;  third,  uncleanness  of 
towns  and  bad  water  ;  fourth,  neglect  of  women,  children,  and 
the  sick. 

"  With  regard  to  bad  houses.  Lately  I  have  been  inside 
several  thousands  of  the  houses  of  the  people,  and  I  can  tell  you 
what  are  their  chief  faults.  In  many  of  the  newer  towns  the 
foundations  of  the  houses  are  not  sufficiently  raised  ;  in  a  great 
number  it  is  even  with  or  below  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
ground.  Who  can  lie  on  a  cold,  damp  floor  without  becoming 
sick? 

"  Now,  as  an  excuse  which,  from  what  I  have  noticed  in  the 
older  towns,  I  have  not  been  able  to  accept,  many  of  the  common 
people  have  said  to  me,  4  We  cannot  have  raised  foundations  to 
our  houses,  for  it  would  be  disagreeable  to  our  chiefs ;  in  the 
old  days  it  would,  perhaps,  have  brought  the  club  on  our  heads.' 

"  Respect  to  chiefs  and  authority  is  a  good  thing,  and  must 
be  maintained  in  the  land,  or  much  evil  will  arise  ;  but  raising 
the  foundations  of  the  houses  of  the  common  people  would 
increase  their  respect  for  their  chiefs,  were  it  made  a  rule  that 
the  houses  of  no  commoner  should  be  built  on  a  foundation  less 
than  one  foot  high,  while  the  foundations  of  the  houses  of  the 
chiefs  should  be  as  much  higher  as  the  customs  of  the  land 
require. 

"  If  this  were  done,  you  would  remove  a  very  frequent  cause 
of  dysentery,  colds,  fevers,  and  diseases  of  the  lungs. 

"  This  matter  was  attended  to  in  many  of  the  old  towns,  so 
that  in  some  parts  of  Fiji  it  would  be  nothing  new.  At  other 
places  I  find  very  often  that  the  roof  of  the  house  is  bad  and 
leaking ;  or  that  the  sides  consist  of  bare  reeds  only,  without 
makita  or  other  leaves  outside.  This  is  bad. 


216  APPENDIX  C 

44  Now  as  to  the  second  cause,  insufficient  food.  We  oiten 
hear  that  there  is  a  scarcity  of  food  in  certain  districts  but 
seldom  indeed  do  the  chiefs  of  the  land  admit  that  there  is  any 
want.  The  reason  of  this  is  that,  if  the  chiefs  are  diligent  and 
show  a  good  example,  there  should  seldom  be  any  scarcity  of 
food  in  Fiji.  A  chief  is  therefore  ashamed  to  say,  4  Food  is 
scarce  with  us,'  for  any  one  hearing  him  would  exclaim,  c  What ! 
has  this  chief  been  indolent  ?  Perhaps  he  limes  his  head, 
paints  his  face,  and  stalks  about,  thinking  only  of  himself ;  or 
is  it  that  he  squabbles  with  his  neighbours  about  some  border 
town,  and  lets  his  people  starve  ?  ' 

44 1  ask  you,  chiefs,  is  it  strange  that  on  the  poorest  soil  of 
Vanua  Levu,  that  of  Bua,  there  is  always  sufficient  food  ? 
What  one  of  us  does  not  know  the  reason  ? 

44  A  regulation  regarding  the  planting  of  food  is  in  force ; 
how  many  chiefs  or  magistrates  can  say  it  is  carried  out  ?  I 
have  seen  with  mine  own  eyes  in  several  districts  that  it  is  not 
enforced,  and  that  food  is  not  sufficiently  abundant,  because 
you  now  plant  less  than  formerly  and  sell  more.  One,  Lau  Buli, 
recently  asked  aid  from  the  Government,  because  some  of  his 
people  were  starving.  Had  he  reported  to  his  Roko,  the  latter 
could  no  doubt  have  procured  them  assistance  from  some  other 
district.  Perhaps  it  was  that  Buli  wished  to  affront  his  Roko, 
or  to  escape  reproof  for  his  own  negligence  if  he  applied  to  him  ; 
but  such  things  should  not  occur  in  Fiji.  In  the  old  times  there 
was  hardly  ever  scarcity  of  food  of  good  quality. 

44  You  possess  one  article  of  food  which  a  great  many  of  you 
may  eat  fresh  and  good  all  the  year  round,  which  is  unsurpassed 
as  food  for  healthy  people,  and  even  for  those  suffering  from 
that  common  and  fatal  disease,  dysentery.  I  mean  taro, 
which  you  Fijians  should  regard  as  God's  gift  to  you.  Your 
fathers  knew  its  value,  and  cultivated  more  of  it  than  you  do 
now.  True,  in  some  places  you  cannot  grow  a  great  deal  of 
taro ;  but  other  districts  can  grow  it  in  unlimited  quantities, 
and  it  can  always  be  exchanged  for  other  property  or  other  food. 
I  desire  to  see  taro  cultivation  greatly  increased. 

44 1  come  now  to  the  uncleanness  of  towns.  When  the  town 
is  full  of  filth  and  rubbish,  the  water  used  by  the  people  is 
usually  bad.  Far  too  little  attention  is  paid  to  this.  How 
many  of  you  have  not  forgotten  altogether  the  regulation  as  to 


APPENDIX  C  217 

water  supply  ?  None  of  you  would  eat  a  rotten  yam,  or  swallow 
decaying  seaweed  from  the  beach,  but  thousands  of  you  drink 
water  more  poisonous,  and  are  content,  careless  whether  you 
suffer  from  dysentery  on  the  morrow.  I  have  been  to  towns 
where  the  water  pools  stink  at  the  doors  of  the  houses  of  the 
people,  and  have  even  seen  it  run  into  the  houses  in  wet  weather. 

"  If  you  chiefs  do  not  take  care,  you  will  soon  have  only  rats 
and  mud-crabs  to  rule  over  in  such  towns. 

"  Remember  that  rotting  filth  poisons  everything  in  a  town — 
air,  water,  and  food— and  thus  breeds  and  fosters  disease,  and 
favours  death.  Now,  what  trouble  do  some  of  you  chiefs  take 
to  improve  the  conditions  of  those  bad  towns  ?  The  other  day, 
when  in  a  town  with  ruinous  houses,  wet  and  filthy,  I  thought 
to  myself,  surely  the  Roko  must  have  forgotten  that  this  town 
belongs  to  him.  On  making  inquiry,  I  was  told  he  had  not  been 
there  since  some  time  before  the  measles.  Yet  this  Roko  writes 
in  a  report  of  the  Provincial  Council :  4  My  people  are  disappear- 
ing, what  will  become  of  us  ?  '  What  indeed,  I  ask,  will  become 
of  a  people  so  neglected  ? 

"  As  to  the  neglect  of  women,  children,  and  the  sick  : — 

"  In  one  of  your  former  Councils,  a  Buli,  when  asked  how  it 
was  that  the  population  was  increasing  so  fast  in  his  district, 
replied, 4  Perhaps  it  is  because  no  woman  is  allowed  to  stir  about 
for  three  weeks  after  giving  birth  to  a  child,  nor  until  the  chief 
of  the  town  has  seen  that  both  mother  and  child  are  strong/ 
How  many  of  you  have  followed  the  wise  example  of  Buli 
Bouboucou  in  this  ? 

"  I  most  strongly  advise  you  to  follow  his  lead  in  this  matter. 

"  Some  of  you  say  :  4  The  children  of  the  whites  live  because 
they  get  cows'  milk  ;  our  children  die  because  we  have  no  cows' 
milk  to  give  them.'  How  many  Fijians  are  present  here  that 
were  brought  up  on  cows'  milk  ?  Yet  ye  are  strong  men,  and 
so  were  your  fathers,  and  they  and  you  were  brought  up  on  the 
produce  of  the  land.  The  truth  is  that  you  chiefs  were  reared 
by  women  that  were  well  fed,  that  were  kept  comfortable,  and 
had  nothing  to  do  except  to  care  for  you.  But  the  only  food 
employed  was  that  of  the  land,  the  same  as  had  been  used  by 
your  fathers  from  time  immemorial. 

"  The  keeping  and  tending  of  cows  is  unknown  to  you  Fijians, 
and  is,  moreover,  rendered  very  difficult  on  account  of  the 


218  APPENDIX  C 

nature  of  your  cultivation.  I  therefore  doubt  that,  for  a  long 
time  to  come,  it  will  succeed  with  you.  But,  if  a  mother  has 
rest,  a  dry  comfortable  house,  and  an  abundance  of  good  food, 
the  produce  of  the  land,  she  can  nourish  her  child  herself  until 
it  is  able  to  eat. 

"  The  rearing  of  fowls,  and  the  preparation  of  arrowroot, 
articles  of  great  use  in  case  of  sickness,  is,  I  find,  not  attended 
to  as  provided  in  the  regulation,  and  often  proper  use  is  not 
made  of  such  fowls  as  are  available. 

4 '  Is  it  true  that  some  of  your  people  are  so  selfish  that,  when 
they  do  possess  fowls,  they  sometimes  go  and  sell  them,  when 
there  are  sick  people,  members  of  their  own  mataqali,  that 
would  be  greatly  benefited  by  such  food  ?  Again,  I  frequently 
find  a  sick  person  in  a  house  without  any  one  near  to  give  any 
assistance.  These  things  must  be  attended  to. 

"  Also  let  the  chiefs  of  towns  and  the  mataqali  leaders  in  the 
town  see  that  each  man  plants  abundantly  on  the  land  allotted 
to  him,  and  that  no  man  sells  food  unless  the  chief  of  the  town 
is  satisfied  that  it  will  not  bring  scarcity  to  his  household. 

"  On  the  chief  of  the  town  should  rest  the  responsibility  of 
seeing  that  the  town  is  kept  clean,  and  that  the  water  supply  is 
good  and  pure. 

"  Again,  the  chief  of  the  town  is  the  only  person  that  can  see 
that  women  are  well  treated  and  children  looked  after,  and  the 
sick  provided  for  and  cared  for.  How  could  the  Buli  do  so  ? 

"  One  matter  I  should  mention  to  you  with  regard  to  the 
treatment  of  the  sick.  Some  time  ago  I  proposed  to  the 
Governor  that  suitable  young  men  of  yourselves  should  be 
taught  something  of  medicine.  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  teach 
them  myself,  but  other  work  has  prevented  that.  I  am  glad 
to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  eight  of  them  are  now  studying  at  the 
Suva  Hospital,  and  Dr.  Corney  reports  of  them  that  they  are 
good  men  and  diligent,  and  will  soon  be  useful  to  you." 


APPENDIX    D 

(From  "  A  Letter  to  Mr.  Stevenson's  Friends.") 
(For  Private  Circulation.) 

ROBERT  Louis  STEVENSON'S  speech  at  Vailima,  October  4th, 
1894,  to  the  assembled  Samoan  chiefs  who  had  made  for  him 
"  The  Road  of  Gratitude." 

"I  will  tell  you,  Chiefs,  that  when  I  saw  you  working  on  that 
road,  my  heart  grew  warm  ;  not  with  gratitude  only,  but  with 
hope.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  read  the  promise  of  something 
good  for  Samoa  ;  it  seemed  to  me,  as  I  looked  at  you,  that  you 
were  a  company  of  warriors  in  a  battle,  fighting  for  the  defence 
of  our  common  country  against  all  aggression.  For  there  is  a 
time  to  fight,  and  a  time  to  dig.  You  Samoans  may  fight,  you 
may  conquer  twenty  times,  and  thirty  times,  and  all  will  be  in 
vain.  There  is  but  one  way  to  defend  Samoa.  Hear  it,  before 
it  is  too  late.  It  is  to  make  roads,  and  gardens,  and  care  for 
your  trees,  and  sell  their  produce  wisely,  and  in  one  word,  to 
occupy  and  use  your  country.  If  you  do  not,  others  will." 

The  speaker  then  referred  to  the  parable  of  the  **  Talents," 
Matt.  xxv.  14 — 30,  and  continuing,  impressively  asked  : — 

"  What  are  you  doing  with  your  talent,  Samoa  ?  Your  three 
talents,  Savaii,  Upolu,  and  Tutuila  ?  Have  you  buried  them  in 
a  napkin  ?  Not  Upolu  at  least.  You  have  rather  given  it  out 
to  be  trodden  under  feet  of  swine  :  and  the  swine  cut  down  food 
trees  and  burn  houses,  according  to  the  nature  of  swine,  or  of 
that  much  worse  animal,  foolish  man,  acting  according  to  his 
folly.  '  Thou  knewest  that  I  reap  where  I  sowed  not,  and 
gather  where  I  have  not  strawed.'  But  God  has  both  sown  and 
strawed  for  you  here  in  Samoa.  He  has  given  you  a  rich  soil,  a 
splendid  sun,  copious  rain  ;  all  is  ready  to  your  hand,  half  done. 
And  I  repeat  to  you  that  thing  which  is  sure :  if  you  do  not 
occupy  and  use  your  country,  others  will.  It  will  not  continue 
to  be  yours  or  your  children's,  if  you  occupy  it  for  nothing. 


220  APPENDIX  D 

You  and  your  children  will  in  that  case  be  '  cast  out  into  outer 
darkness  where  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth  '  ;  for 
that  is  the  law  of  God  which  passeth  not  away.  I  who  speak 
to  you  have  seen  these  things.  I  have  seen  them  with  my 
eyes — these  judgments  of  God.  I  have  seen  them  in  Ireland, 
and  I  have  seen  them  in  the  mountains  of  my  own  country — 
Scotland — and  my  heart  was  sad.  These  were  a  fine  people  in 
the  past — brave,  gay,  faithful,  and  very  much  like  Samoans, 
except  in  one  particular,  that  they  were  much  wiser  and  better 
at  that  business  of  fighting  of  which  you  think  so  much.  But 
the  time  came  to  them,  as  it  now  comes  to  you,  and  it  did  not 
find  them  ready.  The  messenger  came  into  their  villages  and 
they  did  not  know  him  ;  they  were  told,  as  you  are  told,  to  use 
and  occupy  their  country,  and  they  would  not  hear.  And  now 
you  may  go  through  great  tracts  of  the  land  and  scarce  meet  a 
man  or  a  smoking  house,  and  see  nothing  but  sheep  feeding. 
The  other  people  that  I  tell  you  of  have  come  upon  them  like  a 
foe  in  the  night,  and  these  are  the  other  people's  sheep  who 
browse  upon  the  foundation  of  their  houses.  To  come  nearer  ; 
and  I  have  seen  this  judgment  in  Oahu  also.  I  have  ridden 
there  the  whole  day  along  the  coast  of  an  island.  Hour  after 
hour  went  by  and  I  saw  the  face  of  no  living  man  except  that 
of  the  guide  who  rode  with  me.  All  along  that  desolate  coast, 
in  one  bay  after  another,  we  saw,  still  standing,  the  churches 
that  have  been  built  by  the  Hawaiians  of  old.  There  must 
have  been  many  hundreds,  many  thousands,  dwelling  there  in 
old  times,  and  worshipping  God  in  these  now  empty  churches. 
For  to-day  they  were  empty  ;  the  doors  were  closed,  the  villages 
had  disappeared,  the  people  were  dead  and  gone ;  only  the 
church  stood  on  like  a  tombstone  over  a  grave,  in  the  midst  of 
the  white  men's  sugar  fields.  The  other  people  had  come  and 
used  that  country,  and  the  Hawaiians  who  occupied  it  for 
nothing  had  been  swept  away,  l  where  is  weeping  and  gnashing 
of  teeth.' 

"  I  do  not  speak  of  this  lightly,  because  I  love  Samoa  and  her 
people.  I  love  the  land,  I  have  chosen  it  to  be  my  home  while 
I  live,  and  my  grave  after  I  am  dead  ;  and  I  love  the  people 
and  have  chosen  them  to  be  my  people  to  live  and  die  with. 
And  I  see  that  the  day  is  come  now  of  the  great  battle  ;  of  the 
great  and  the  last  opportunity  by  which  it  shall  be  decided 


APPENDIX  D  221 

whether  you  are  to  pass  away  like  these  other  races  of  which  I 
have  been  speaking,  or  to  stand  fast  and  have  your  children 
living  on  and  honouring  your  memory  in  the  land  you  received 
of  your  fathers. 

14  The  Land  Commission  and  the  Chief  Justice  will  soon  have 
ended  their  labours.  Much  of  your  land  will  be  restored  to 
you,  to  do  what  you  can  with.  Now  is  the  time  the  messenger 
is  come  into  your  villages  to  summon  you ;  the  man  is  come 
with  the  measuring  rod ;  the  fire  is  lighted  in  which  you  shall 
be  tried,  whether  you  are  gold  or  dross.  Now  is  the  time  for 
the  true  champions  of  Samoa  to  stand  forth.  And  who  is  the 
true  champion  of  Samoa  ?  It  is  not  the  man  who  blackens  his 
face,  and  cuts  down  trees,  and  kills  pigs  and  wounded  men.  It 
is  the  man  who  makes  roads,  who  plants  food  trees,  who  gathers 
harvests,  and  is  a  profitable  servant  before  the  Lord,  using  and 
improving  that  great  talent  that  has  been  given  him  in  trust. 
That  is  the  brave  soldier  ;  that  is  the  true  champion*;  because 
all  things  in  a  country  hang  together  like  the  links  of  the  anchor 
cable,  one  by  another.  But  the  anchor  itself  is  industry. 

"  There  is  a  friend  of  most  of  us  who  is  far  away :  not  to  be 
forgotten  where  I  am,  where  Tupuola  is,  where  Po'e  Lelei, 
Mataafa,  Solevao,  Po'e  Teleso,  Tupuola  Lotofaga,  Tupuola 
Amaile,  Muliaiga,  Ifopo,  Fatialofa,  Lemusu  are.  He  knew  what 
I  am  telling  you  ;  no  man  better.  He  saw  the  day  was  come 
when  Samoa  had  to  walk  in  a  new  path,  and  to  be  defended, 
not  only  with  guns  and  blackened  faces,  and  the  noise  of  men 
shouting,  but  by  digging  and  planting,  reaping  and  sowing. 
When  he  was  still  here  amongst  us,  he  busied  himself  planting 
cacao ;  he  was  anxious  and  eager  about  agriculture  and  com- 
merce, and  spoke  and  wrote  continually ;  so  that  when  we  turn 
our  minds  to  the  same  matters,  we  may  tell  ourselves  that 
we  are  still  obeying  Mataafa.  Ua  tautala  mat  pea  o  ia  ua 
mamao. 

"  I  know  that  I  do  not  speak  to  idle  or  foolish  hearers.  I 
speak  to  those  who  are  not  too  proud  to  work  for  gratitude. 
Chiefs  !  You  have  worked  for  Tusitala,  and  he  thanks  you 
from  his  heart.  In  this,  I  could  wish  you  could  be  an  example 
to  all  Samoa — I  wish  every  chief  in  these  islands  would  turn  to 
and  work,  and  build  roads,  and  sow  fields,  and  plant  food  trees, 
and  educate  his  children  and  improve  his  talents — not  for  love 


222  APPENDIX   D 

of  Tusitala,  but  for  the  love  of  his  brothers,  and  his  children, 
and  the  whole  body  of  generations  yet  unborn. 

"  Chiefs  !  On  this  road  that  you  have  made  many  feet  shall 
follow.  The  Romans  were  the  bravest  and  greatest  of  people, 
mighty  men  of  their  hands,  glorious  fighters  and  conquerors  ! 
To  this  day  in  Europe  you  may  go  through  parts  of  the  country 
where  all  is  marsh  and  bush,  and  perhaps  after  struggling 
through  a  thicket,  you  shall  come  forth  upon  an  ancient  road, 
solid  and  useful  as  the  day  it  was  made.  You  shall  see  men  and 
women  bearing  their  burdens  along  that  even  way,  and  you  may 
tell  yourself  that  it  was  built  for  them  perhaps  fifteen  hundred 
years  before — perhaps  before  the  coming  of  Christ — by  the 
Romans.  And  the  people  still  remember  and  bless  them  for 
that  convenience,  and  say  to  one  another,  that  as  the  Romans 
were  the  bravest  men  to  fight,  so  they  were  the  best  at  building 
roads. 

"  Chiefs  !  Our  road  is  not  built  to  last  a  thousand  years, 
yet  in  a  sense  it  is.  When  a  road  is  once  built,  it  is  a  strange 
thing  how  it  collects  traffic,  how  every  year  as  it  goes  on,  more 
and  more  people  are  found  to  walk  thereon,  and  others  are 
raised  up  to  repair  and  perpetuate  it,  and  keep  it  alive  ;  so  that 
perhaps  even  this  road  of  ours  may,  from  reparation  to  repara- 
tion, continue  to  exist  and  be  useful  hundreds  and  hundreds  of 
years  after  we  are  mingled  in  the  dust.  And  it  is  my  hope  that 
our  far-away  descendants  may  remember  and  bless  those  who 
laboured  for  them  to-day." 


INDEX 


A 

Aana,  46 

Aberdeen,  Lord,  141 

Adventurers,  74,  126 

"A  Footnote  to   History,"    16, 

34,  35,  44,  48,  65  et  seq.,  59, 

70  et  seq.,  90,   102,   110,   148, 

149 

Africa,  1  et  seq. 
Agents,  German,  89 
Agreement  of  1886... 78 
"  A  Lady's  Cruise,"  27,  90 
Alienation  of  land,  103 
Ambitions,  German,  144 
American  comment,  36 
American  missionaries,  86,  156 
Americans  in  Samoa,  45 
Anglo-Saxon  attitude,  66 
Annexation,  first,  18 
Anselm.     See  Unselm. 
Apia,  40,  47,  164 
Apolima,  46,  107 
Apologists  for  Germany,  115 
Arabs,  120 

Arms  for  the  natives,  94 
Asiatics,  119 
Astrolabe,  22 
Atlantic,  38 
Atua,  46 

Australasia,  7,  97,  98,  124 
Australasian     Medical     Gazette, 

167 

Australia,  118,  120,  124,  144 
Australian  Commonwealth,  136 
Australian  competition,  96 
Australian  Expeditionary  Force, 

21,  124 


Australian  Inter- State  Com- 
mission Report,  66,  96,  111, 
113  etseq.,  118,  123 

B 

Baker,  Rev.  S.,  148 

Baker,  Sir  S.,  16 

Balfour,  Rt.  Hon.  A.,  124  et  seq. 

Bangkok,  116 

Banks,  Sir  J.,  19 

Barnard  Castle,  14 

Barter,  89 

Batavia,  121 

Bau,  108 

Beautemps-Beaupre",  22  et  seq. 

Becke,  Louis,  29,  32,  35,  42 

Berlin,  84,  97,  123 

Besant,  Sir  W.,  19 

Bible    and    language    question, 

107 

Bigelow,  P.,  83,  115,  123 
Bismarck   Archipelago,    22,    36, 

78,  80,  83,  123 
Bismarck,    Prince,    16,    22,    24, 

73,  106 

Black  labour.    See  Labour  traffic. 
Blanche  Bay,  22 
Bludgeon,  German,  178 
Bolivian  coin,  90 
Blue  Book,  British,  1885—1889 

...34,  37,  94 
Blue  Book,  New  Zealand,  1874... 

26,  34,  39,  86,  128 
Bougainville,  18,  20  et  seq. 
Boussole,  22 
Brandeis,  84  et  seq. 
Bremen,  97 


224 


INDEX 


Brisbane  strike,  160 

Britain.     See  Great  Britain. 

"  British  and  Australian  Trade 

in  the  Pacific,"  66 
British  plantations,  76,  79 
British  planters,  113 
Britons  and  Americans,  45 
Brooke,  Rupert,  11,  12 
Brown,  Dr.  G.,  14,  40,  45,  52,  61, 

101  et  seq.,  105,  129,  132,  138 

et  seq.,  143  et  seq.,  148,  150  et 

seq. 

Brown,  G.,  Senr.,  14 
Bryce,  Lord,  8 
Buddie,  Rev.  T.,  132 
Burns,  Philp  &  Co.,  96  et  seq.t 

98  et  seq.,  123 
Butaitari,  119 
By  water,  Hector  C.,  166 


Calliope,  164 
Cameroons,  80  et  seq. 
Campbell,  Montgomery,  84 
Cannibalism,  131 
Cargill,  Rev.,  108 
Carnegie  Institute,  187 
Caroline  Islands,  85  et  seq.,  129, 

156 

"  Carpe  Diem,"  41,  143 
Carteret,  11,  18,  19,  22,  136 
Celestial  Empire,  119 
Chalmers,  J.,  127,  166 
China,  66,  113,  119  et  seq. 
Chinese,    66,    109,    112,    113    et 

seq. 

Chinese  immigration,  119 
Chinese  University,  123 
Christianity  out  of  date,  28 
"  Circumnavigation        of        the 

Globe,"  21,  24 
Civil  War,  U.S.A.,  15 
Cleveland,  President,  36 
Cochin,  38 


Coetlogon,  Col.  de,  146,  147 

Colonial  Office,  7,  167 

"  Conquering  Chinese,"  119 

Cook,  11,  18 

Cooper,  Stonehewer,  27,  29 

Coote,  Walter,  68 

Copeland,  Mr.  John,  99 

Copra,  89,  97 

"  Coral  Lands,"  27,  29 

Cox,  Cyril,  80  et  seq. 

Cross,  Rev.,  108 

Crux  of  case,  74 

Gumming,  Miss  Gordon,  27,  35, 

90 
"  Cyclopaedia  of  Samoa,"  48 


Dampier,  11,  18 

Defoe,  13 

D'Entrecasteaux,  18,  23 

44  D.  H.  &P.  G.,"95,  112,  114 

Dernburg,  84 

44  Deutsche    New-Guinea   Kom- 

pagnie,"  95,  114 
Dickens,  C.,  14 
Diwawon,  163 
Drake,  Sir  F.,  11 
Dubois,  Abbe,  196 
Duke  of  York  Island,  20 
Dutch  Indies,  98,  120 
Dutch  rule,  118,  121 


E 

East  India  Company,  63 

Education  in  Fiji,  191 

"Efficiency,"  183 

Eliot,  Sir  Charles,  161 

4'  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  59 

English  Cove,  20 

"  English  Humourists,"  13,  33 

English  language,  116 

Erzberger,  84  et  seq. 


INDEX 


225 


Expeditionary  Forces,  98 
Exploration  in  Pacific,  17 
Explorers,  18 

F 

Fairplay,  spirit  of,  174 

Fiji,  12,  70,  106,  107  et  seq.,  191 

et  seq. 

Fijians,  dying  out,  167 
Fiji  Times,  194  et  seq. 
Fison,  Dr.,  144 
Fletcher,  Rev.  J.  H.,  131 
Flogging,  82,  84 
"Footnote   to    History."        See 

"  A  Footnote  to  History." 
Forced  labour,  67,  70  et  seq. 
Fourteen  Points,  1 
France,  17 

Franco -Prussian  War,  15,  41 
French    exploration,    17,    20    et 

seq. 

G 

G-arnham,  Miss,  192 

George,  Lloyd,  1 

George  III.,  20,  136 

German  New  Guinea,  83,  123 

German  traders,  17,  45  et  seq. 

GERMANY : 

Africa,  East,  4  ;  Africa,  South- 
West,  3, 10 ;  agreement,  1886... 
78;  Anselm,  31,  37,  38; 
annexing  New  Guinea,  15 ; 
arrogance,  57  et  seq.  ;  ambi- 
tions, 144 ;  atrocities,  4 ; 
attacks  on  other  traders,  30 ; 
attitude  to  natives,  65  ;  atti- 
tude to  Pacific,  17 ;  bad 
neighbour,  8;  Becke,  Louis, 
29  ;  Bismarck,  16,  24,  73,  78  ; 
Bolivian  coin,  90  ;  Brandeis, 
84  et  seq.,  177  et  seq.,  180 ; 
Brown,  Dr.,  40 ;  Caroline 
Islands,  85,  87  ;  Chinese,  66, 


109  ;  Christianity,  28 ;  club 
wanted  and  denied,  52 ;  Cochin, 
38;  commerce,  114;  con- 
quest, Dutch  Colonies,  125  ; 
Consulate  first  established,  39  ; 
Coote,  W.,  58 ;  copra,  89 ; 
crux  of  case,  74 ;  determined 
to  have  Samoa,  48 ;  "  Deutsch- 
land  iiber  Alles,"  89  ;  Dutch 
East  Indies,  122,  124  ;  "  Effi- 
ciency," 183  ;  employees,  29 
et  seq.  ;  Erzberger,  84  et  seq.  ; 
future  on  water,  116  ;  Gode- 
ffroy  &  Son,  17,  26,  29  et  seq.  ; 
37,  43,  45,  88  ;  Hahl,  Dr.,  87, 
171 ;  Hamburg,  12,  17,  39  ; 
hatred  of  the  English,  30 ; 
Hereros  killed,  4 ;  Hort,  and 
Brander,  38  ;  Hottentots,  4  ; 
humane  policy,  3  ;  immigra- 
tion of  labour,  77 ;  Jaluit 
Company,  96;  Knappe,  84, 
86 ;  labour  ideals,  74 ; 
Malietoa,  48,  176  et  seq.,  179  ; 
Marshall  Islands,  84  et  seq.  ; 
Mataafa,  48,  176  et  seq.  ; 
missionaries,  28,  105,  126 — 
136  ;  Naboth's  vineyard,  54  ; 
native  labour,  4,  10,  63  et  seq.  ; 
new  Colonial  policy,  45  ;  North 
German  Confederation,  39  ; 
Pacific  a  screen,  12  ;  planta- 
tions, 43,  76,  78,  84,  97 ; 
Poppe,  manager,  28 ;  pro- 
clamations to  Samoans,  178  ; 
record  in  Samoa,  109  ;  recruit- 
ing agents,  28;  Reichstag, 
84 ;  roads,  83 ;  policy,  98, 
100  ;  Samoan  political  history, 
45 ;  Samoan  quarrels,  45 ; 
Schillings,  Dr.,  87  ;  scientists, 
19 ;  silence  about  her,  73 ; 
Solf,  Dr.,  4,  5,  9,  65  ;  Solomon 


226 


INDEX 


G  erm  any — continued. 

Islands,  78 ;  spirit  of  ma- 
/  terialism,  91 ;  steamers,  97  ; 
Sterndale  Eeport,  27  el  seq., 
35,  63  ;  Stevenson,  R.  L.,  16, 
55,  72  et  seq.,  108,  173; 
Tamasese,  176  et  seq.,  180 ; 
"The  German  Colonies,"  4, 
5;  "The  New  Pacific,"  9; 
Thurston  Eeport,  1886... 76  et 
seq.  ;  testimonials,  35,  68,  71  ; 
trade,  73,  88  et  seq.,  114  et 
seq.  ;  traders,  17,  45  ;  Travers' 
Report,  76  et  seq.  ;  treatment 
of  natives,  112;  treaty,  1900... 
34,  56,  79  ;  Trood,  T.,  7,  31  ; 
Unselm,  31,  37,  38 ;  Upolu, 
76, 78 ;  Valparaiso,  37 ;  Weber, 
28  et  seq.,  38,  39,  45,  69,  89 ; 
"Western  Pacific,"  58  et 
seq. 

Gilbert  Islands,  99,  169 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  104,  140,  142 

Godeffroy  &  Son,  17,  26  et  seq., 
37,  42,  44,  73,  88,  103 

Gordon,  Sir  A.,  28,  75,  140  et 
seq. 

Gorges,  Mr.  E.  H.  M.,  3,  6,  10 

Gorrie,  Sir  John,  148 

Gosse,  Edmund,  60 

Gould,  John,  19 

Grant  in  Africa,  16 

Great  Britain,  17,  18,  35,  50, 
60,  64,  67,  74,  96,  97,  105, 
128 

Grey,  Sir  G.,  104,  129  et  seq.,  137 

Griffith,  Sir  Samuel,  161 

Guam,  85 

Guillemard,  Dr.,  120 

H 

Hahl,  Dr.,  87,  171 
Hamburg,  12,  17,  39,  95,  97 


Harper's  Monthly,  119 

Hazelwood,  Rev.  D.,  108 

Herbertshohe,  124 

Hereros,  4,  83,  85 

"  Hindu  Manners,"  196 

"  History  of  Twenty -five  Years," 

142 

Holland,  118  et  seq.,  121 
Hongi,  130,  133 
Hong  Kong,  116,  123,  161 
Honolulu,  12 
Hort  Bros.,  38 
House  of  Commons,  174 
Hughes,  C.  H.,  66,  112 
Hughes,  Rt.  Hon.  W.  M.,  5 
Hunt,  Rev.  John,  108 


Imperialists,  102 

Imported    labour.     See    Labour 

traffic. 

India,  12,  194  et  seq. 
Indian  Mutiny,  15 
Indian  Ocean,  38 
Indians  in  Fiji,  191  et  seq. 
International   Rubber  Congress, 

121 
Inter-State  Commission  Report. 

See     Australian      Inter-State 

Commission  Report. 
Irish  difficulties,  104 
"  Island  Reminiscences,"  31,  40 
Iniquities  of  labour  traffic,  78 


Jaluit  Company,  96  et  seq.,  98 
Java,  23,  118  et  seq. 


Kane,  Capt.,  164 
Karavia,  153 
Kawau,  137 
Kiao  Chau,  123 


INDEX 


227 


King  Bell,  83 

King  movement,  130 

Knappe,  Consul-General,  84,  86 


Labour,  Asiatic,  199  et  seq. 
Labour   traffic,    10,    35,   60,    63, 

70,  77  et  seq. 
Laelau,  98 
Lagos,  162 
Land  holdings,  95 
Langham,  Dr.,  108 
Languages,  Pacific,  106 
La  Perouse,  22 
"La  Perouse,"  23 
Lewin,  Mr.  Evan,  84 
"  Life  of  Bismarck,"  27 
"  Life  of  Gladstone,"  141 
Line  Islanders,  67,  70 
Line  Islands,  40 
Liquor  for  the  natives,  93 
Livingstone,  Dr.,  16 
Lizard,  164 
London  Missionary  Society,  86, 

107 

"Long  Handle  Firm,"  42,  113 
Long,  Rt.  Hon.  W.,  7 
Lowe,  C.,  27 
Lugard,  Sir  F.,  123 

M 

Maafu,  138 

MacGregor  Reports,  158 
MacGregor,  Sir  W.,  18,  127,  158 

et  seq.,  162,  166 
Mahan,  Admiral  A.  T.,  107 
Mohammedanism,  120 
Malay  Peninsula,  118 
Malaysia,  119 
Malietoa,    47,    104,    137,    176    et 

seq. 

Manila,  85 
Manono,  46,  107 
Maori  Christianity,  131 


Maori  Wars,  130,  144 
Maoris,  130  et  seq. 
Mariner,  W.,  13,  32 
Marsden,  Rev.  S.,  127 
Marshall  Island  chief,  99 
Marshall  Islands,  85,  96 
Martin,  Dr.,  33 

Massacre  of  Caroline  Islanders,  86 
Massey,  Mr.,  Premier  N.Z.,  6 
Mataafa,  48,  71,  150,  176  et  seq. 
Materialism,  92,  127 
May,  Sir  Francis,  161 
Mayer,  Dr.,  187,  190 
Mcllwraith,  Sir  T.,  58,  61,  142, 

159 

Melanesians,  8 
Message  to  Congress,  36 
Mexico,  127 
Missionaries,    15,    105,    106,    126 

et  seq.,  136 

Mitchell  Library,  27,  32 
Montgomery-Campbell,   Mr.   M., 

84 
Moors,  Mr.  H.  J.,  146,  147 

N 

Napoleon  Buonaparte,  130 
Native  labour,   4,   63,   77,    110, 

118 

Native  risings,  144 
"  Naval  and   Military   Record," 

165 

Naval  officers,  163 
Netherland  East  Indies,  121,  125 
Newfoundland,  162 
Newington  College,  131 
New  Britain,  20  et  seq.,  40,  124, 

143 

New  Caledonia,  70 
New  Guinea,  15,  36 
New  Guinea  Company,  95 
New  Ireland,  20  et  seq.,  40 
New  Zealand,  6,  14,  36,  67,  113, 

124,  130  et  seq. 


228 


INDEX 


New  Zealand  Blue  Book,  1874... 

26,  38 

New  Zealand  Herald,  149 
Ngatimahanga,  132 
"  Nicholas  Nickleby,"  14 
Nieue,  68 

Norddeutscher  Lloyd,  124 
North  Borneo,  118 
North  German  Confederation,  39 
Northern  Queensland,  118 


Ocean  Island,  99 

"  Old  Samoa,"  33,  46 

Olga,  165 


Pacific  Ocean,  10,  17,  26,  27  et 
seq.,  36,  63,  66,  67,  127 

Palmerston,  Lord,  142 

"  Paper  King,"  105 

Papua,  120 

Parkes,  Sir  H.,  63 

"  Parliamentary  Paper,"  122 

Patteson,  Bishop,  15,  127 

Philippines,  117,  156 

Phillip,  Capt.,  22 

Plantations,  40,  76,  78,  79,  84, 
97 

Policy,  German,  98,  100 

Polynesian  dispersion,  135 

Polynesians,  8 

Ponape  (Ascension),  85  et  seq. 

Poppe,  28,  79 

Port  Jackson,  22 

Pratt,  Eev.  G.,  107 

Prestige,  British,  136 

Pritchard,  W.  T.,  50 

Prussia,  17 

Prussian  officials,  109 

"  Prussian  Memories,"  83,  115 

Puaux,  M.  Ren6,  4,  5 


Q 

Quarrels  in  Samoa,  45 
Quarterly  Beview,  84  et  seq. 
Queen's  regulations,  148 
Queensland,  70,  118,  158 

R 

Rarotdnga,  68 

Recruiting  agents,  69 

"  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,"  55 

Robertson,  Sir  John,  63 


S 


Salisbury,  Lord,  76 

SAMOA  : 

America's  first  Consul,  50 ; 
Blue  Book  (1885 — 1889),  34 
et  seq.,  37  ;  Brown,  Dr.  G.,  101 
et  seq.  ;  Caroline  massacre, 
87  ;  Chinese,  66  ;  club  wanted 
by  Germany,  62  ;  evidence  of 
C.  H.  Hughes,  66;  first 
British  Consul,  50  ;  flogging, 
85 ;  forced  labour,  64,  66 ; 
German  ways,  73 ;  Great 
Britain,  49,  74  ;  I'a's  club,  63  ; 
ignorance  about,  60  ;  labour 
traffic,  35,  59,  60,  64,  68,  70 ; 
Malietoa,  48  ;  Mataafa,  48  ; 
one  long  tragedy,  49  ;  planta- 
tions, 43,  69,  71  ;  political 
history,  45  ;  Pritchard,  W.  T., 
50 ;  Prussian  officials,  109  ; 
songs,  161  ;  Stevenson,  R.  L., 
101  et  seq.,  105 ;  Stanmore, 
Lord,  140  ;  Strong,  Mrs.,  106  ; 
Tamasese,  48 ;  tangle  for 
Powers,  60  ;  Thurston  Report, 
76,  93  et  seq.  ;  treaty,  1900... 
34,  56,  79  ;  Tutuila,  72  ; 
United  States,  50,  74  ;  Weber, 
T.,  49  ;  Weekly  Times,  48 

Sandwich  Islands,  85 


INDEX 


229 


Savaii,  47,  105,  107,  135 

Savages,  68 

Schillings,  Prof.,  87 

Scientific  Monthly,  189 

Scott,  Prof.  Ernest,  23 

Sea  power,  107 

Security,  2 

Sedition,  149 

Selwyn,  Bishop,  16,  127,  129 

Shipping  subsidies,  98,  116 

Shortage  of  women,  194 

Silence  about  Germany,  73 

Singapore,  123 

Smith,  Hon.  S.,  121 

Solf,  Dr.,  3,  9,  65,  103,  108,  179 

Solomons,  21,  78  et  seq.,  80 

Sourabaya,  23 

"  South  Sea  Islands,"  papers  re, 

'  26 

South-West  Africa,  10,  97 

Spain,  85 

Spaniards,  85,  127 

Spanish  Main,  38 

Spanish  priests,  86 

Speke,  16 

Spirit  of  fair  play,  174 

Squeers,  W.,  14 

Stair,  Rev.  J.  B.,  33,  46 

Staniforth  Smith,  121 

Stanmore,    Lord    (see    Gordon), 

138  et  seq.,  142 
Sterndale,  H.  B.,  27  et  seq.9  36, 

63  et  seq.,  69,  81,  85,  89 
Sterndale  Report,  27,  37,  42,  69, 

128 
STEVENSON,  R.  L. : 

Advice  followed  by  Germany, 

55  ;  appearance  in  Samoa,  36  ; 

authority    an    essential,    36 ; 

Brooke,  Rupert,  11  ;    Brown, 

Dr.  G.,  101 ;    Coetlogon,  Col. 

de,  146  ;    communal  life,  44  ; 

credit      to      Germany,      91  ; 

"  Cyclopaedia  of  Samoa,"  48  ; 


deportation  threatened,  148  ; 
distrust  Germany,  110  ;  "  En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica,"  59  ; 
German  plantations,  78  ; 
Godeffroy  &  Son,  65  ;  Gosse, 
Edmund,  60  ;  Great  Britain, 
49 ;  his  great  crime,  35 ; 
Imperialist,  102  ;  indignation, 
48  ;  letter  to  Dr.  Brown,  101 
et  seq.  ;  Malietoa,  48  et  seq.  ; 
Mataafa,  48  et  seq.,  71 ;  mis- 
sionary, 127  et  seq.,  173 ; 
native  attitude  to  plantations, 
44 ;  plan  of  settlement,  108 
et  seq.  ;  road  making,  150, 
180;  Samoan  labour,  43,  77 
et  seq.  ;  speech  to  the  chiefs, 
181  ;  spirit  of  fair  play,  174  ; 
Tamasese,  48  ;  "  Thralls,"  72  ; 
Thurston,  Sir  John,  73  ;  Tusi* 
tala,  172  ;  United  States,  50  ; 
"With  Stevenson  in  Samoa," 
146  ;  witness  against  labour 
system,  70  et  seq. 

Stockton,  165 

Strasburg,  Capt.,  112 

Strike,  Brisbane,  160 

Strong,  Isobel,  55,  106 

Sydney  Morning  Herald,  41,  99, 
125,  143,  169,  170,  196 

Subsidised    mail    steamers,    98, 
116  et  seq. 

Suva,  12 

T 

Tahiti,  88 

Tamasese,  176 

Tarapipipi,  133 

Tawhiao,  137 

Te  Awaitaia,  132 

Thackeray,  13,  32 

Thakombau,  63,  75,  107,  138 

"  The  Caroline  Islands,"  129 

"The  German  Colonies,"  4 

*'  The  Islands  of  the  Pacific,"  29 


230 


INDEX 


"  The  New  Pacific,"  9,  17,  96, 

124 

"Thralls,"  72 
Thurston,  Sir  John,  34,  37,  73, 

75,  148,  149,  162  et  seq.,  173 

et  seq. 
Thurston's  Report,  1886.. .76,  93 

et  seq.,  150 
Times,  The,  148 
Tongatabu,  40 
"  Tongan  Islands,"  13,  32 
To  Porapora,  153  et  seq. 
Trade,  88  et  seq.,  115 
Trade  war,  114  et  seq. 
Travera,  Consul -General,  34,  76 
Treaty,  1900... 34,  56,  79 
Trood,  T.,  31,  35,  37,  39 
Tropic  of  Capricorn,  120 
Tuamasanga,  46 
Tusitala,  172 
Tutuila,  72 

U 

Unfair  means,  93 

Union  Steamship  Company,  66, 

112 
United  States,  36,  42,  48,  49,  60, 

74,  105,  106 
Unselm,  31,  37,  38,  45 
Upolu,  40,  46,  89,  105 


Vailima,  178 


"Vailima  Letters,"  153 

Valparaiso,  37,  88 

Varzin,  22 

Victoria,  Queen,  54 

Vladivostock,  161 

Vceux,  Sir  W.  des,  163 

Vogel,  Sir  Julius,  26,  35,  63,  67, 

135 
"  Voyage  Autour  du  Monde,"  21 

W 

Wallis,  Capt.,  19 
Willoughby,  Rev.  W.  C.,  169 
Walpole,  Spencer,  141 
Ward,  Sir  J.,  6 
War  in  New  Zealand,  130,  144, 

145 

War  in  Samoa,  45 
Watt,  Mr.,  acting  Prime  Minister, 

5 
Weber,  Theodor,  28  et  seq.,  38, 

39,  45,  69,  89,  95,  127,  132 
Wesley  College,  131 
"Western  Pacific,"  58 
Weyl,  Walter  E.,  119 
William  IV.,  130 
Williams,  John,  46,  127 
Wilson,  President,  1 
Wise,  B.  R.,  143 
"With    Stevenson    in    Samoa," 

146,  147 


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